Lithium
by The Lady Arturia
Summary: "But after all these years of chasing after you, I finally caught up to you in the end, didn't I?" she asked. "No," he replied. "Because the one doing the chasing has always been me, and the one being chased has always been you." Half a decade after leaving, he unexpectedly returns and completely shakes up her world in the way he always has: soft, but strong—like Lithium.
1. Surprises

**A/n: Here I am with another Scorpius and Rose story! This takes place approximately seven-eight years after they leave Hogwarts, so they are about 24-25 years old. Enjoy!**

**Edit: Quite a bit of you seemed a little confused on things, so I decided to mention that most of this story is in Rose's POV. So the narrations and descriptions are from her perspective. So read it from her point of view.**

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**Disclaimer: I hereby declare that neither the Harry Potter series nor its canon-characters are mine. Everything belongs to our Queen, J. K. Rowling, and I am only writing this story for pleasure and not profit. All the non-canon characters and the non-canon storyline are mine.**

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**Lithium**

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**Rated: T (Certain chapters may have a PG-13 warning just in case.)**

**Genres: Romance/Hurt/Comfort and some mild angst.**

**Fandom: Harry Potter, Second Generation.**

**Ship: Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley.**

**Warning: Mild provocative language and content. To be read at reader's discretion.**

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**"But after all these years of chasing after you, I finally caught up to you in the end, didn't I?" she asked. "No," he replied. "Because the one doing the chasing has always been me, and the one being chased has always been you."**

**Half a decade after leaving, he unexpectedly returns and completely shakes up her world in the way he always has: soft, but strong—like Lithium. A Scorpius and Rose story.**

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**Chapter 1**

**Surprises**

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To her, he was someone she needed to surpass; someone who she pursued relentlessly without concern for anybody or anything. But somehow, no matter how high she reached, it was never high enough. He was always three steps ahead and by the time she reached him, he was already pulling farther and farther away. In every test, her perfect score was never perfect enough; every perfect potion she brewed was never perfect enough; every perfect spell she performed was never perfect enough; it was like he completely changed the very meaning of perfection in order to suit his needs and his accomplishments.

Sometimes she thought he did it on purpose, simply to spite her. That self-important smirk permanently plastered on his face, that expression of superiority he constantly wore, that demeanor of someone far above the rest that he constantly assumed, and last but not the least, those nail-biting, hair-tugging, blood-boiling comments that he threw in every which way.

All in all, he was someone she should probably have despised, but somewhere along the line, he had become her goal. He was her main aim in life and for her, surpassing him was something akin to attaining the forbidden fruit. She had chased after him year after year, persistently and without hesitation. And finally, at the very end, she had gotten what she had worked night and day for.

Her perfect score in the NEWTs beat his by one mark, giving her the liberty to choose the position of her choice in the Ministry of Magic. And of course, at that time it had seemed like a fantastic idea to pick the lone position that she knew he had spent much of his life working for. So she did. And eight years later, she was the youngest and only female head of the Department for Magical Research and Experimentation.

The Department for Magical Research and Experimentation was one of the departments added on after the Second Wizarding War, when the Ministry had finally realized the importance and usefulness of Muggle technology and had decided to experiment with them in order to modify them into contraptions that could be used by magical folk as well. Especially in the medical field, when it had been the Muggle doctors and hospitals that had saved more than half of the Wizarding population after the War.

It had initially been a small project taken up by a sub-department in the Department for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, as they seemed to be the only ones who were the least clueless about Muggle-related technology – which was saying something in itself – but was then made a full-fledged department due to its demand.

By the time the next generation was done schooling, the department had branched out to various other fields of research and experimentation and had one of the best facilities in the world, and witches and wizards from every nook and cranny interested in research and willing to make contributions in the field, came to Britain in order to prove their merit.

Due to the sheer size of it, the department had several subdivisions under two main divisions. Rose was head of both the Theoretical Division, i.e. the one that did all the research and came up with hypothetical scenarios and ran theories, and the Practical Division, i.e. the one that actually conducted the experiments that the researchers theorized to test their practicality and their usage; and unlike what the title entailed, her main job was to make sure that the whole of the department functioned smoothly and efficiently. It was much harder a task than it sounded, considering the most genius witches and wizards always seemed to be the most scatter brained and disoriented of the lot.

And although she had gotten exactly what she had wanted, instead of feeling a sense of accomplishment or victory, she felt nothing but a shallow sense of unease and restlessness. It wasn't that she disliked her job; she was excellent at it, and had been praised on more than one occasion for having the patience to handle everything so proficiently. But it made her edgy when she thought about the fact that she had only decided to take the job just so her nemesis didn't get it.

"—ose. Rose!"

She snapped her head up and eyed the only other female Head, who was in charge of the Theoretical Division, standing in front of her desk with pursed lips and crossed arms.

"You weren't _listening_ to me. Again."

Rose shook her head, her usual apology already making its way out of her mouth before she could even think about saying it.

"I'm sorry, Renée, I was a little preoccupied—"

"Yes, I know. You were preoccupied. Again."

"Renée—"

"Don't you Renée me, Rose. This is the hundredth time this week that you've zoned out on me. Again."

"Yes, alright, I get it and I'm sorry."

"Let me guess, you were over thinking your position as H.O.D. Again."

"Will you please stop with the agains? And no, I was thinking about my latest case—"

"You don't have a latest case."

Rose pressed her lips together and stared up at her colleague and close friend. Renée Herington was the sole heir to the Herington estate and was one of Rose's oldest and most trusted friends since their years at Hogwarts. When Rose had informed Renée of her job in the Ministry, the latter had conveniently abandoned her responsibilities as the only successor to the Herington fortune and followed after Rose.

And now she stood before the redhead in her crisp, creaseless suit and her short, perfect brown hair, and exuded the same aristocratic demeanour as a certain other person she knew of.

"Yes, well, I was thinking about what Harold said—"

"Bollocks."

Rose sighed and massaged her temple as Renée walked behind her desk and stared at the Muggle coffee machine that Rose had installed there.

"This is exactly your problem, Rose. You and your unfathomable nuances that hold absolutely no intrinsic value." Renée pointed at the coffee machine and made a face. "Like this irritating Muggle contraption, for example. For what purpose do we need something that takes hours to brew a cup of coffee that is nowhere near the accepted standard, when we can just spell it into our cups in the first place?"

She flicked her wand and watched as steaming brown liquid poured out of the dispenser and into a quaint little teacup she held, steaming as it turned a dark brown.

"Well what about you then," Rose snapped, motioning to the teacup.

"What about me? You have a bone to pick with my teacup?"

"It's called a _tea_cup for a reason."

Renée shrugged and sipped, sticking her pinky out. "Any self-respecting English woman drinks from a teacup," she declared with finality.

Rose rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to make a rebuttal, but just then there was a sharp knock on the glass door of their office and a messy blond head peeked into the room as he announced himself.

"Harold, the partition is made of glass. We can see you."

Harold shuffled in awkwardly and smiled sheepishly at Renée. "I was just—"

"Yes, yes, I know," Renée waved him off, as she leaned back onto her desk and picked up a sheaf of parchment in order to cut off any further communication between them. Harold shuffled upto Rose and placed the cardboard box he was holding on her desk.

"And this is," Rose prompted, when Harold didn't take the initiative to begin the explanation.

"Oh erm… it's a case file… Mister Wernicks wanted me to hand it directly to you."

"_A_ case file? This is a whole box full of files," Rose stated, as she removed the lid and peered into the box.

"Er, yes, but apparently they're all important and—"

"Dump the box on his desk and ask Wernicks to shove it up his arse."

Harold stared at Renée wide-eyed and she returned the look with a bored expression.

"He can't keep throwing boxes of his work onto us just because his wife's driving him up the wall. Tell him to buy her some flowers and do his bloody work himself."

"B-But—"

"But nothing. Rose has enough work of her own. Don't you, Rose?"

Renée looked expectantly at the redhead and she smiled apologetically at the timid blond. "I actually _do_ have a lot of work. I'm completely swamped and I would really appreciate it if you could tell Mister Wernicks so, Harold."

Harold had gone from pink to white to green in the few minutes they had been talking and he snatched the box from Rose's desk, mumbled something incomprehensive, walked face first into the glass partition, spilled the contents of the box everywhere, and after Renée put everything back into his hands with a flick of her wand, bustled away.

"You really don't have to be such a prick to him, you know. He's only doing what he's been told."

Renée rolled her eyes but only said, "I forgot to mention, your cousin's waiting downstairs."

Rose's mouth fell open and she stood up, smoothing her skirt down. "Al's here and you choose to tell me this after so long?"

"Well, I mentioned it before but you were busy ignoring me, so I decided a little punishment was due."

"Renée!"

Renée waved her off as Rose hurried out of the office and to the elevators. She made her way through the crowd and craned her head as she looked for her cousin. It wasn't all that difficult to spot him, what with his floating, white Healer's robes. She made a beeline toward him, her face splitting into a grin. He was turned away from her and his unkempt mane of hair was swiveling around as though looking for someone. She grabbed him from behind and when he yelped, she pulled back laughing.

"For Merlin's sake Rosie, _stop doing that!_"

"Won't," Rose replied childishly and he tugged at her hair with a mock frown.

She hugged him and grinned up at him and he shook his head with a sigh.

"What brings you here today, dear cousin? Did you miss me so much that you had to personally Apparate into my work place to see me?"

"Technically, you work ten floors below ground level, and you can't Apparate anything but personally," Albus replied and pursed his lips. Rose quirked an eyebrow.

"Then, why're you here if it's not to see me?"

"What, I can't come visit my other friends who work in the Ministry?"

"What _other friends_?"

But even as the words left her mouth, someone brushed past her and clapped Albus on the shoulder.

"You made it, mate! Good to see you!"

Her heart stilled momentarily and then resumed beating at double the speed. No matter how many years went by, she would never forget that voice. _His _voice.

"Oh," came the familiar drawl, as the man who had so rudely interrupted her conversation with her cousin half-turned toward her, as though only just noticing her. "Is that you, Rose Weasley?"

From where she was standing – which was on equal footing with him – she could only see his broad – very broad – shoulders right in front of her. She had to tilt her head up to finally get a glimpse of his face. And when she did, her breath caught and she thought she might start hyperventilating a minute from then, the way her heart was racing and her chest was convulsing.

"Scorpius," she squeaked and the blond simply raised a curious eyebrow at her, his trademark smirk tugging at his lips.

She did a slight double take when she saw him; he looked so different than she remembered. His shoulders were wider and broader, and although he had been much taller than her to begin with, he seemed to tower over her more than usual. His platinum blond hair was now a light, sandy blond, the colour of cream, and reached up to his shoulder blades. He'd tied it back with some sort of hand made hair tie, with shorter side locks framing his face. He wore a light grey shirt that clung to his shoulders the way clothes clung off people who did a lot of physical exercise to get the perfect body. He was wearing a jacket that looked like it had survived a lot of wear and tear, over dark jeans and tall hiking boots. She noticed that he wore leather gloves like the ones those lunatic Muggle bikers wore.

When she looked at his face, she noticed with some horror that his right ear was pierced three times and he wore a loop through the topmost piercing and a diamond stud in the bottommost. He also had two handmade necklaces around his neck, one made of what looked like intricately weaved Dragon hide and the other was leather with a large purplish fang dangling from it. He also wore some sort of chain link necklace, like the kind one saw holding back rabid dogs in Muggle pounds, except smaller.

She shivered lightly. She never knew five years could do so much to someone. His change in appearance was more of a shock to her at the moment than the fact that he was there in the flesh. Realising she had been quiet for an inappropriately long time – if the strange look Albus was giving her was any indication – she tapped her naked wrist in a way she'd often seen Muggles do, and said in a shrill, hurried voice, "Oh, goodness me, would you look at the time! I really must be getting back to work!"

And she all but turned tail and ran toward the elevators, blood pounding in her ears. By the time she had reached her office, she was hyperventilating and she leaned against the glass, taking in shallow breaths of air and trying to calm her racing heart down.

"Oh Merlin," Renée said as she helped Rose sit down and Conjured a glass of water. She shook her head, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Rose, what happened?"

"Y—you didn't tell me— he was back," she stammered, suddenly feeling cold. She glanced at the enchanted windows in their large office that the Magical Maintenance Department had installed. They had decided to make the enchanted view from the fake windows seem very windy and chilly with telltale signs of rain that day, but she was sure that had nothing to do with her shivering.

"You saw him?" Renée interrupted Rose from her daze and the latter snapped her eyes back to her friend's face.

"You told me Al was waiting for me!"

"No," Renée said slowly, as though gauging if she should take a step back from Rose in case the latter decided to suddenly pounce on her. "I only told you that he was waiting. I didn't mention for whom."

Rose's mouth fell open and she stared accusingly at Renée, who only shrugged. At least she had the sense to look uncomfortable, as she shifted and tucked a nonexistent strand of stray hair behind her ear.

"I really didn't mean for you to bump into him. You rushed off before I could say anything else and I thought the likelihood of you running into him was slightly more than coincidental."

"Renée, Al wasn't here for me, which meant he could be here for only two reasons, and the Aurors' Office is closed to visitors at this time of day."

Renée scrunched up her nose as though that had somehow skipped her mind and she shook her head lightly. "You're right, I should have told you he was back. I just wasn't sure, because I wasn't informed about his sudden departure from the Expedition. My bad."

Rose sighed and clutched her head, wondering if she should take a draught to dispel her slowly blooming headache.

"It doesn't matter," she said tiredly, but Renée didn't seem to take the hint to leave her alone.

But after a moment the brunette did say, "Even if you _did _run into him on pure coincidence, it shouldn't be shaking you up as much as it seems to have."

"Did you _see_ him?" Rose snapped, glaring at her friend. Renée frowned but shook her head no. Rose stretched her arms out in an obviously exasperated gesture and said, "There you have it, then."

"What, did he lose a leg and is now walking around with a hook for a foot?"

The weak attempt at failed humour did exactly what it was meant not to do. Rose rubbed her temple in frustration and squeezed her eyes shut. When she ignored Renée's second attempt, the woman finally took the hint and slid back to her own desk. Rose sighed, suddenly exhausted. She reached into her drawer and pulled out the small vial of Calming draught she kept in her First Aid kit and took a swig from it. Everyone always made fun of her for having such Muggle habits, but she didn't care, because they definitely had their advantages.

Instantly feeling the relaxing effects of the potion, she leaned back in her swiveling chair and sighed, shutting her eyes and letting the draught do what it was meant to do. Ten minutes later, a sharp rap on the glass door interrupted her meditation. She kept her eyes shut, hoping her lack of acknowledgement would send whoever it was on their way, since she was in no mood to handle human contact, and Renée was out on her break. There was no more knocking, so Rose assumed that whoever it was had got the message and left her alone, but—

"If you don't want to be disturbed, it's customary to hang a Do Not Disturb sign outside your door, or at least change the partition to something less transparent. That way, people wouldn't be able to look through to your office and see that you're shirking your duties."

Rose hadn't heard more than the first few words, because she had jerked violently and jumped backwards, shrieking when her chair toppled over and left her sprawled very ungracefully on the floor. She groaned, rubbing her bottom, as her face turned furiously red. She hoped that if she sat on the floor for long enough, both her humiliation and the cause for it would go away, but apparently, today her luck had decided to have its way with her.

She looked up as Scorpius stretched a hand out to her over her desk, his eyes wide and glittering with laughter as he smirked down at her. She glared at his hand and stood up on her own, heaving herself by the edge of her desk and cursing her high-heeled shoes. Once she had upturned her chair and settled down behind her desk, she faced Scorpius with what she hoped was a look of indignation and clasped her hands together on the tabletop, if only to keep them from shaking.

Scorpius looked at her expectantly and she glared back, ignoring whatever silent message he was trying to communicate to her. Finally deciding she'd rather get over with whatever it was he wanted so she didn't have to stare into his liquid eyes for longer than necessary, she cleared her throat and sat up straight, tilting her chin up and looking at him with pursed lips.

"Yes?"

Scorpius glanced at the chair beside him longingly and when Rose scowled at him, daring him to sit down, he sighed slightly and nodded, placing his palms on her desk and leaning on them.

"I'm here to report to you of my safe and timely arrival from the Expedition."

"You weren't expected to arrive anywhere until the end of October," she snapped, her headache returning with renewed vigour.

He raised an eyebrow at her and she noticed with a jolt that it was split in two from a thin scar that ran vertically down it.

"Did I do something to offend you, Miss Weasley?"

Rose could've thrown her head back and laughed from being addressed as 'Miss Weasley' by Scorpius Malfoy, who, all her life, had made it a point to call her by her given name for the simple reason that it irritated her to no end.

"I wouldn't know what you are referring to, Mister Malfoy. Now, if you would please sign these documents and state the reason for your early arrival from the Expedition, as well as your regularly owled reports, or lack thereof, and the amount of financial losses sustained. Also, please collect the names and signature of every member of the Expedition Crew, the members who were in contact with the crew from the home department, as well as the names of the members who were part of the foreign department and submit the list to me as late as Wednesday evening."

She slid a sheaf of parchment across the desk and patted them expectantly when Scorpius continued to stare at her. He snorted and leaned forward, causing her to automatically retreat backwards.

"Wh-What," she blustered, conscious of how close he was. From that distance, she could see the flecks of blue in his wide silver eyes, and also her expression of panic and confusion reflected in them.

"That's better," he informed her, as he withdrew ever so slightly. She cleared her throat and frowned at him, hoping to communicate that she didn't like being made fun of, but she knew that he was already aware of that fact, if the past sixteen years were anything but constant examples of the same.

"The documents, Mister Malfoy," she said in a clipped tone, purposely raising the pinned sheets up and waving them in his face. Scorpius took the parchment without even glancing their way, his eyes still staring into hers with the same intense look of amusement that had always left her baffled and flustered at her inability to comprehend its hidden meaning.

She cleared her throat pointedly, even as she refused to be the one to break eye contact, a flush creeping up her neck. She had half a mind to undo her top button for the simple fact that her previous moment of cold had been reversed, and now the space around her was stifling.

After what seemed like ages, Scorpius began pulling back and Rose involuntarily sighed in relief and began to relax - only to be shocked out of her skin when Scorpius leaned back forward and brushed his lips against her cheek. Her scream came out as a weirdly strained gurgle in the back of her throat, as she stared wide-eyed at him, her heart in her mouth.

As though she hadn't reacted like she had just experienced something extremely traumatizing, Scorpius stood back and with a small smile, said, "It's good to see you, Rose."

The only sound that escaped her lips was a strangled wail of distress and Scorpius chuckled, waved the parchments and turning on his heel, strode out of her office. She sat staring at the spot where he had been and clutched the edge of her desk until Renée came bursting in with a, "Did I just see Scorpius Malfoy leave this office with the most self-important smirk in the history of self-important smirks after kissing you on the cheek?!"

Rose looked at Renée with a panicked expression, a helpless squeal escaping her lips. Renée strode up to her and whacked her on the head.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, get yourself together, woman."

Rose snapped her mouth shut and nodded obediently. The brunette eyed her for a moment and then whacked her head again for good measure.

"Hey!"

Seeing that Rose had regained the ability for speech, Renée rounded the desk and placing her hands on the armrests of Rose's chair, shook it.

"Tell me again why Scorpius Malfoy left this office with the most self-important smirk in the history of self-important smirks after kissing you on the cheek."

Rose groaned and bumped her head onto Renée's shoulder.

"I don't know," she wined. "He was making fun of me, I'm sure."

"It didn't look like it! What did he come in here for, anyway?!"

"He came to report his apparently timely arrival from the Expedition and I gave him the necessary documents and we had a staring competition and I thought I'd won when he started pulling back but then he took me by surprise and kissed me," Rose said hurriedly, the words all but tumbling out of her mouth like she couldn't hold them back for a second longer. She pulled back and gave Renée a pitiful look that the other woman pursed her lips at.

"That conniving wanker," Renée exclaimed in a voice that didn't sound the least bit disapproving. When she looked back at Rose, her eyes were gleaming with something Rose didn't recognize, but was sure didn't mean anything good.

"Well, I must say, he got one over us," Renée said amusedly as she leaned back against the shelf of low cupboards behind Rose's desk.

"Excuse me?"

Renée shrugged, and Rose could tell that she was trying very hard not to laugh.

"You can laugh, if you're finding it so highly amusing," Rose snapped irritatedly and the brunette burst out laughing, as she doubled over and shook for a whole minute. When she finally stood back up and wiped tears from her eyes, Rose glowered at her and kicked her in the shin.

"Come on, your reaction was priceless," the brunette chortled and Rose sniffed disdainfully as she turned back to her desk.

"Anyway, what I meant to say was, that you better buckle up girlie, because Scorpius Malfoy is back – Merlin only knows why – or he's going to take you for a ride and you won't even know what hit you."

"Probably the Hogwarts Express," Rose grumbled, sending Renée into another fit of laughter.

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**A/n: And there you have it! I was quite unsure about this story, but as it went along it surprised me with how intense and interesting a turn it took, so I decided to post this as a tribute to another year gone by and the celebration of another to come.**

**I decided to alter Scorpius's stereotypical slick appearance to a some what nonchalant one to show that he has a wilder side to him.**

**Please review, favorite and follow and make sure to tell me what you think! This story will be regularly updated every 5-6 days along with Every Rose Has Its Thorn. Again,y our opinions and views are very important, so let me know what you think!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Love~**

**Love~**


	2. Head of Department

**Chapter 2**

**Head Of Department**

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"—and then we somehow managed to score the last goal… and you're not _listening_ to me."

Rose looked up from her dinner and shot Hugo an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry Hugh, I was preoccupied."

"You always are," Hugo said in a dejected voice and Rose winced. "And don't call me Hugh. My name's Hugo," he snapped at her, as he got up to keep his plate in the sink.

She stared down at her food, toying with it, as she didn't exactly have an appetite that day. Plus, it had gotten too cold to taste good anyway.

"I'm leaving," Hugo announced and Rose looked up so fast, her neck cracked. She groaned as she rubbed the back of her neck and stood up hurriedly as Hugo put on his jacket.

"What? Why? You just got here!"

"No, I got here two hours ago and you've been ignoring me the whole time," he replied as he laced his shoes. She sighed at his brown head and had a sudden urge to ruffle his hair like she used to when they were little.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't ignoring you. I was just—"

"Preoccupied," Hugo finished harshly. When he saw the hurt on Rose's face, he sighed and shook his head. "I know you're busy Rosie, but if you keep ignoring human contact like this, you're going to turn into one of those Muggles who was rescued after being stranded out in the wilderness for too long."

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Rose mumbled, feeling guilty that she had given her little brother cause to lecture her. Again.

Hugo nodded and standing up, patted her head. She swatted his hand automatically, frowning up at him. He'd long since over shot her and no one could actually tell that she was the older of the two siblings, if they stood side by side. He smiled as she stuck her bottom lip out at him and hugged her with one arm.

"I'll come visit again, if you don't go home within the next two weeks."

"Hugo," Rose sighed, "it's been seven years since I moved out. You don't have to keep coming and checking in on me all the time, like this. I know you're busy with the new season starting soon and all."

Hugo shrugged and pulled the hood over his head. Rose frowned at him.

"Are you going to see Lily now?"

Lily had moved out and into her Muggle boyfriend's house in Muggle London four years ago, despite everyone's disapproval. Her boyfriend knew she was a witch and it actually made him excited to see her perform magic, although she had made him swear – magically, of course, because Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys would never have permitted it otherwise – that he'd never talk about her or magic or wizards or the like to any Muggle. Although everyone had expected the relationship to fall apart sooner than later, that being the only reason Harry and her brothers had grudgingly agreed to let her live with her boyfriend in the first place, even after four years, they were still going strong, and Lily had even spoken to Rose about having suspicions that Nicholas was going to propose soon.

"Gotta make sure that berk doesn't suddenly up and decide that tonight is the night he 'pops the question', as he calls it."

Rose rolled her eyes at Hugo's successful attempt to sound like a Muggle. Despite what he said or did, both he and Rose liked Nick because they knew that he genuinely loved Lily.

She walked him to the door and stood with her hand on the frame as he stuck his hands in his pockets and nodded at her.

"See you later, then."

"Can't you just floo into their house? Traveling by that underground tube thing this late in the night is ridiculous."

Hugo shook his head and grinned at Rose. "Nick goes ballistic if someone steps out of the fireplace covered in soot. Thinks we'll explode in flames or something. I keep telling Lils it's her fault for telling him about how Phoenixes die."

Rose chuckled and shook her head. Nicholas would always be a running gag in the family, with his many Muggle ways and his Muggle reactions to magic. He was the one who had gifted her the coffee machine that she kept in her office. Apparently it was a 'high-end model' and was very expensive, and although she, like Renée, didn't see the point of it, kept it anyway because she was quite fond of Nick.

"Alright, be careful then."

Hugo nodded and was about to walk away, when Rose grabbed his elbow. He looked back at her curiously and she debated whether or not to tell him that Scorpius was back. She'd been debating that back and forth the entire time Hugo was there, which was one of the main reasons for her not paying attention to him. She suddenly found herself wimping out from the way Hugo was looking at her expectantly, and she bit her lip, wondering if it was too late to simply laugh it off as nothing.

"Rosie?"

"He's back," she blurted, before she could lose her nerve, and Hugo looked at her in confusion, coming back to stand in front of her door.

He frowned at the way she was chewing her lip nervously and asked, "Who's back?"

"Scorpius. He's back."

Hugo's frown deepened and he seemed to expand, the way he pushed his shoulders back and his chest out.

"Back from where? Peru? Why? Wasn't he supposed to come back this year end?"

Rose nodded hastily, already regretting telling her brother.

"Then why's he back so soon?"

Rose waved her hand hurriedly and said, "I don't know the particulars yet, but I think it's because of shortage of funds and the fact that they hadn't made any worthwhile discovery in the past two years."

"OK," Hugo said slowly, as though he was trying to think through whatever information Rose had just given him. "So he's back early. How does that affect you?"

His eyes had lost its usual glassy manner and had taken on a darker, more brooding look. Rose swallowed, wondering if he would see through her if she lied.

"If you're planning on lying, don't bother," he informed her and she pressed her lips together to keep from saying that she was doing no such thing.

"I don't—I didn't expect him, that's all. I should have been informed, since I'm the Head of Department and everything, and although I have been busy with other things, and technically his actions are completely separate and aren't monitored by me, I should have still been informed about his leaving the expedition early and returning back."

Hugo sighed and scratched his head. "Rosie, if you can't stand to be around him, then let Renée or someone else handle him. There's no need for you to force yourself."

"I'm not forcing myself," she replied a little too defensively and Hugo raised his eyebrows at her. She shook her head to cover up for her mistake.

"I'm the Head of both his and Renee's divisions and I can't suddenly push my duties onto someone else because I'm uncomfortable about dealing with him. That, and I can't actually do it, since I _am_ the Head and his direct superior."

"And because you don't want to lose to him."

Rose made a face. She was hoping Hugo would have forgotten that. He rolled his eyes at her.

"Please. You both have been going at each other's throats for years and you think him taking a long trip and then returning suddenly five years later is going to change that?"

Rose picked at the stitch in her dress and stared at his shoulder instead of answering. Hugo reached up and tugged her hair as he said, "You're not fooling anyone by pretending to be alright, Rosie. Either deal with the problem or run away from it."

She knew he'd only said the last part to instigate her into arguing, as she couldn't actually run away from Scorpius, so she glared at him and he grinned.

"Old habits die hard, right?"

He reached upward and ruffled her hair like she always had done his, and she swatted at him with an annoyed yell. He laughed and began walking away backwards.

"Night Rosie," he called with a grin and she stuck her tongue out at him. She heard him laugh even as he turned the corner toward the elevator. She couldn't help but smile herself, as she shut the door and made her way to the kitchen. No matter what she did – or didn't do, rather – Hugo always seemed to know exactly what to say to get her wheels turning the right way.

Exactly how Scorpius knew exactly what to say or do to get her wheels turning the wrong way.

* * *

"Can you _believe _that piece of shite?!"

Rose looked up from the forms she was signing, alarmed by how Renée had slammed her hand on her desk.

"What? Who?"

"Wernicks!"

Rose shook her head at her friend. "Renée, if this is about the files Harold brought—"

"I couldn't care less about the files that silly boy brought," Renée snapped and ran both her hands through her hair. Rose put her quill down and sat back with raised eyebrows. It had been awhile since Renée had gone on a rampage.

"So Wernicks is an arsehole because," Rose prompted, as she would a child who had forgotten why they had come crying to her about something and got distracted along the way.

"I called him a piece of shite, but arsehole is fine too," Renée grumbled, as though exactly what Wernicks was, was the more pressing matter here.

"Ren," Rose quipped and Renée made a frustrated sound and threw her hands in the air.

"He didn't tell us about Scorpius's premature return back from the Expedition Crew because I told him I thought he was a lazy, lying piece of shite!"

Rose sighed. And there was the answer to the question that had been bugging her all day yesterday. "And why exactly did you think it was a good idea to tell him what you thought about him?"

"Everyone thinks that about him and it's true and you know it!"

"Come on, you know that's not the point."

Renée sat down on the chair on the other side of Rose's desk and sulked. Rose bit her cheek to keep from smiling. She had almost forgotten how childish Renée's tantrums were.

"Remember how Harold was all flustered the other day when we ran into him after lunch?"

"Yeah," Rose replied, closing her pot of ink in case Renée flung her hand out and spilled it all over her parchment. She placed it on the side table as an extra precaution.

"Well, it was because Wernicks had asked him to replace the contents of the box of files marked 'important' on my desk to ones that he was supposed to submit later that day. He'd forgotten to do it the previous night because of another row with his wife and the bloody git thought it would be hilarious to put the blame on me!"

Rose frowned. Wernicks was getting out of hand with his habit of skirting his work by tricking other people into doing it. It was about time she had a talk with him.

"I didn't realize something was wrong until I saw the date stamp on the 'to be submitted' portion. I was sure my files were due by the weekend, not that evening. So I went up to Wernicks and asked him from where in Merlin's name he found the balls to think he could just replace my work with his and get away with it."

"Let me guess, he accused you of accusing him of doing something he'd never done and then you told him that he was a dirty, lying piece of shite."

"Yes! Although I didn't say dirty. I should've said dirty."

Rose sighed and stood up. Renée forgot her anger for a moment to look up at Rose curiously.

"Where are you going? I'm not done yet."

"I'll let you ramble on about Wernicks as soon as I get back," Rose promised with a pat on her friend's shoulder.

"Pinky promise!" Renée called after her, earning confused glances from the people walking outside.

Rose straightened her blouse and redid the bun on her head so she looked as prim and proper as she meant to look, as she stepped out of her office. She made her way past several offices and witches and wizards scampering around, shouting to each other. The best thing about being the Head of Department, was the fact that everyone else did most of the brunt work for you and only the most pressing matters or the ones no one else could do, were the ones you had to handle.

She dodged around two wizards in lab coats who had put down a large contraption in the middle of the corridor to argue back and forth over it. She would have intervened, but the arguement would have taken hours to settle and the best way to solve problems in the Research and Experimentation Department, was to let the problem burn itself out in due course.

She reached Wernicks office, or rather his former office, since he had only been made Secondary Head of the Practical division since the actual Head had gone on the five-year expedition to Peru. She paused with her hand on the knob of the wooden door, when she heard voices inside. Wernicks was shouting at somebody and after a few seconds, that somebody answered back in a voice that was clearly more amused than angry.

A voice she knew all too well.

Sighing, she decided that handling both parts of her problem simultaneously was the best course of action. Pushing the door open, she stood just inside the room and listened to the argument, since clearly, neither men had noticed her enter.

"—and just who do you think you are, you wretched piece of—"

"I'm the actual Head of Division, that's who. But that's quite a silly question, Mister Wernicks, since you already know who I am."

"You rascal! How _dare_ you talk to me like that! If it wasn't for me, you'd never have been able to go on that ridiculously flamboyant expedition of yours! It's only because I agreed to step in for you—"

"Precisely. You agreed to step in for me when I left, and now that I'm back, I'm asking you to agree to step right back out."

"How dare you! You've got some nerve talking to me like that! The other Division Head and the Head of Department will never accept this!"

"Actually," Rose said, finally coming forward. Wernicks jumped like he'd been whipped and stared at her red-faced. Scorpius's smirk grew with amusement as he watched her approach them, wide-eyed.

"The other Division Head was just telling me what a nasty, lying, piece of shite you are," she said with a smile, already tired with Wernicks' ridiculous antics.

He swelled with anger, his face going purple, and spluttered, apparently so enraged that he couldn't even form a coherent sentence. If the short, pudgy man could have come close to blowing up, Rose was sure this was it.

"Besides," Rose began, coming to stand next to Scorpius, so it turned out to be the two of them against Wernicks, "Mister Malfoy is the one with both the qualifications and the expertise to be the Division Head, and not you."

"You—after all these years! I've done everything—"

"By tricking and bribing other people into doing your work for you. You even went so far as to try and trick the other Head of Division into doing your work and me as well, simply so you could meet the deadline. That speaks for itself, wouldn't you agree?"

"That's—because—our division has so much to do and such incompetent fools to do it! Take that Harold fellow for example! I've never seen him do rat's ass!"

"Harold isn't part of the Practical Division, Mister Wernicks. Has he ever tell you that he was?"

Wernicks opened his mouth and then shut it. He opened it again and then had to shut it again, like a fish out of water, because he obviously had been rendered speechless by his own stupidity.

Rose raised an unamused eyebrow at the older man. "And what was it you were saying about the Head of Department never agreeing to fire you?"

"F-Fire," Wernicks mumbled, having gone entirely pale. He completely deflated and took on the demeanor of a middle-aged man being told he was being let go because he was incompetent. As he was now, Rose almost felt sorry for him.

"Yes, because it would seem that you've done nothing but cause trouble, ever since you were made Secondary Head."

"I—I may have used nefarious means, but I still got the work done! The Theoretical Division barely does any work anyway! That Harold fellow always has so much free time! He never even told me he wasn't part of the Practical Division!"

"As Division Head, isn't it your responsibility to know who is and isn't part of your division? Plus, that excuse would have worked better if both divisions didn't have completely different sets of uniforms. And you didn't notice that Harold didn't wear the white lab coat of the Practical Division, simply because you didn't care to notice, as long as you could harass him into doing your work."

"I still got the work done," Wernicks tried one final time. Rose sighed and shook her head. Even pity seemed too good for a man like him.

"Fine. Ignoring everything you did – or rather didn't do – let us talk about something else, shall we?"

Wernicks raised his head a little higher, as though he thought Rose was giving him another chance. She smiled sweetly at him, just to reinforce the illusion that she was.

"What exactly did you think would happen when you deliberately withheld information regarding the untimely arrival of Mister Malfoy?"

Wernicks seemed to assume the demeanor of someone who was being told that his life's worth wasn't nearly as much as he had always thought it was. He wrung his hands and Rose noticed that he was sweating quite profusely.

"I—I didn't," he began, and then coming to the realization that there was nothing he could say to defend that particular act of foolishness, he seemed to shrink even smaller than he already was.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled half-heartedly, staring down at his hands.

"Really?" Rose asked, causing Wernicks to look up in confusion. She understood why he seemed so baffled, because she had kept her smile gentle and her voice sickly sweet, and let him assume she wasn't nearly as angry as she actually was.

"You think you can simply apologize for withholding information that wasn't yours to withhold in the first place, and everything will be OK? Did you actually think your quarrel with Miss Herington, where you were obviously in the wrong, was reason enough to not tell her of Mister Malfoy's preponed arrival? Even if you did have that fight with Miss Herington and you deemed not telling her as justified, information of Mister Malfoy's early departure from Peru and handling the remaining matters was your responsibility, wasn't it? So I simply cannot fathom how something so important just – how should I put this in a way you would understand – _skipped your mind_?"

By then, Wernicks seemed all but ready to accept his fate and seemed rather inclined to be cut loose, than be humiliated by two people half his age. Rose wondered if he had been punished enough, and as though in answer to that, Scorpius spoke up slowly beside her.

"Many a great men have made mistakes, Miss Weasley. I don't think we should hold it to Mister Wernicks for his slip up."

Rose had the urge to whip toward the blond, grab him by the shoulder and demand what exactly he was playing at, but she simply retained her smile and stared at Wernicks.

"I think Mister Wernicks himself is well aware of his misgivings and thus, I would like to once again offer him the chance to step down graciously," Scorpius said gently and Rose could see that he had replaced the smirk on his face with a smile that could be considered as genuine, if whoever saw it didn't know him half as well as she did.

"Mister Wernicks?" Scorpius took a step forward, offering a hand for the older man to shake. Although Wernicks eyed it with disgust, he nodded and shook it anyway, thinking that was probably the best chance he was going to get to keep his job.

That was when it suddenly dawned on Rose what Scorpius had done. He had played along with her attempt to make it seem that all they were doing was having an amicable discussion, nothing nearly as horrific as calmly discussing a man's future and whether they would be the ones to destroy it or not. She would have felt disgusted by it before, but at some point she'd realized that Scorpius was never explicitly spiteful toward anybody about anything. She probably wouldn't have felt contempt toward him for half her life, if he had actually been an honest bastard.

Once it was clear that Wernicks was going to vacate the office to Scorpius, Rose nodded to the latter to follow her and made for the door. Scorpius held it open for her and bowed slightly, while graciously extending an arm and gesturing for her to go first. Rose paused half way outside the door and looking over her shoulder, said in the same casual tone of voice,

"Oh and Mister Wernicks? Don't bother shifting your things."

When the man looked at her in confusion, she smiled sweetly and said in the nicest of voices,

"You're fired."

* * *

**A/n: I just wanted to mention that several things in this story may confuse you, because most of this story follows Rose's perspective, so only things that she knows will be explained. If she doesn't know something, then it'll be left as is until she does, so they're deliberate plot holes. Just wanted to inform you on that since someone told me it was rather confusing as to why Rose was so ignorant about a lot of seemingly important things, or why they were left unmentioned. **

**Also, I decided to give Rose her own personality as a strong individual, rather than forcing her to follow in her parents' footsteps, as I kinda have in my other story. So let me know what you think of her!**

**Please review and critique, because I really want some active criticism so I can better my skills and my story.**

**Love~**


	3. Slight Complication

**A/n: Thank you for all the follows, reviews and favorites! You guys are amazing as always!**

**Love~**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Slight Complication**

* * *

"It seems five years can really change a person. Are you _listening_ to me, Miss Weasley?"

Rose tried not to sigh as she led Scorpius through the winding corridors of the R&amp;E floor, finally finding what she was looking for. She motioned for him to enter the small soundproof cubicle and then shutting the door behind her, waited for the wards to collapse back into place. She sighed and tugged her hair loose, suddenly feeling like she needed to relieve the pressure building up in her head before it exploded. She finally turned to Scorpius – who had been waiting patiently for Rose to acknowledge him – and poked an accusing finger at his chest.

"Why didn't you inform me of your return?"

"Are you asking as the H.O.D, or as a—"

Rose cut him off before she could find out exactly what else he considered her to be. "As your direct superior, it is your duty to keep me informed of everything you do. Is that something that's completely unfamiliar to you, Mister Malfoy?"

"Oh, so we weren't simply pretending to call each other by our last names in public?"

Rose shot Scorpius a disbelieving look and shook her head. "And you were saying something about people changing."

Scorpius immediately brightened at that and Rose groaned outwardly, rubbing her face with her hands. She had forgotten exactly how much of a knack Scorpius had when it came to pushing her buttons.

"Scorpius please," she said through her hands. When he didn't reply, she dropped her hands and looked up at him. The same wide-eyed smile of innocence, which he seemed to have adopted during his time away, was still in place on his face. The only difference was the complex tangle of emotions that glittered in his now grey eyes. But they only lasted for a moment, as he took a step forward and half bowed like he had before, looking up at her with the same cheeky expression.

"But I did," he said, and it took Rose a second to understand what he meant.

"What, when? I didn't receive any form of communication from you in the five years you were away."

Scorpius's eyes widened and Rose immediately corrected herself. "I didn't receive a letter by owl or a message by floo or any other means from either your or anybody else on your team."

If he was disappointed by the immediate rejection to giving him even the slightest chance to feel like she had mentioned only him specifically, he didn't show it. "Initially, I made sure that letters were sent back every week, but after the owls we were using failed to return, we decided to fire-call in our whereabouts and which projects we intended on commencing on our arrival. When we got no reply for either our owls or our fire-calls, we debated on whether our information was even reaching you."

He paused then, and absentmindedly touched his long ponytail, as he stared at the wall behind Rose, instead of looking at her as he had been doing. "Professor Dowlen and Doctor Burry thought it possible that our messages had been intercepted before they reached their destination, after which we tried to refrain from making contact with the home office as much as possible. We made individual and personal voice recordings instead, for both our research and findings, as well as our location, the weather and the equipment. After following this process for three months, we compiled all the data and found the method satisfactory and much more efficient as compared to written reports, which were both time consuming and susceptible to error, as we could not record information impromptu, like we could with audio recordings.

"We had compiled and documented all our findings, of course, but we were no longer sure on how to communicate them to the home office without the fear of interception. It was then, that the Peru branch office in the Ministry let us use their advanced technology – they have created a contraption that is a cross between what Muggles call a 'computer' and our own fire-calling system – which helped us make successful communication with the home office."

Even as Scorpius had started talking, Rose was feeling a nagging doubt in the back of her mind that only seemed to increase with every word he spoke. When he finally finished, she squatted on the floor, completely exhausted with what she had just discovered. Scorpius knelt beside her, his hands hovering near her without actually touching her, his brows knitted in what seemed like genuine concern.

"Rose? Is something the matter?"

Rose laughed ruefully and ran a hand through her long auburn curls. She may have just made a mistake that might have cost them five years worth of research and funds.

"You said that you documented everything you ever studied or researched in these five years?"

Scorpius blinked and nodded slowly. "Yes, I'm perfectly certain that we've documented everything. Even our food and sleep cycles."

Rose nodded, slowly getting to her feet. She stared at Scorpius for a moment, her mind working hard to come up with an instant solution for a problem that she couldn't allow to become any bigger than it was small. Nodding to herself, she patted his chest like she did with Albus when she was trying to get him to do something without asking unnecessary questions, and said, "Go find Renée and tell her to instruct everyone, mainly the Technical Crew, that all data within the department – as well as the data related to the department elsewhere in the Ministry - must be frozen immediately until further instructions from me. Tell her to use my magical signature so that nobody else can make any changes."

Scorpius looked like he had quite a few questions he wanted to ask her, but she looked him in the eye, her palm still pressed against his chest, and said gently but firmly, "Now."

Scorpius paused for only a moment, before nodding and hurrying out of the cubicle, leaving Rose to take a moment to think things through.

If what Scorpius had just told her was true, - and despite how much she couldn't tolerate him, he had never actually lied to her about things that were important – then there seemed to be only one explanation as to why she had received such minimal information about the expedition.

It was true that she had got regular reports about the funds or the equipment or the findings, but after a time, she had left the team directly involved with the expedition to take care of all the reports and only inform her if there was something substantial that she needed to know about. She was now regretting the decision to reduce what she had then considered unnecessary work, as it came to bite her in the arse.

Wernicks had been in charge of the entire operation from their home office, giving him direct control over everything that came and went through whichever channel, be it owl or floo or complicated machinery. Which meant that he had always been up to date of the happenings of the expedition even after the initial excitement of an international research project had died down and everyone had returned to what work they could do here in London, rather than speculate on the happenings half way around the world.

This either meant that Wernicks had simply cast the duty he had been given onto someone – or multiple someones – and washed his hands clean of it, or he had knowingly withheld the information from reaching Rose. Either could be true with him and she wasn't sure which was worse. Her disinterest in finding out more than the important reports on whether the crew was doing something useful or not, probably fueled his accurate assumption that she didn't care one way or another about the happenings in Peru.

She had been more concerned with talking to different international and national agencies and rich, noble families and trying to convince them to donate funds for the extensive – or as Wernicks had rightfully called it, _flamboyant_ – project and making sure the resources were utilized to their full capacities. Renée's division had been in charge of all the theoretical and research related work, meaning she only knew whatever the wizards who left Britain with had known, and not any new findings they had uncovered in their stay in Peru.

The entire project had been more experimental and archeological in nature, meaning it was almost completely under the expertise and control of the Practical Division; meaning Wernicks could have thrown the data out the window of his office onto the road below, and no one would have been the wiser.

While she was working through all of this, she had made her way to Wernicks'/Scorpius's former/present office, and just as she had feared, it had been completely cleared out. She didn't doubt that Wernicks had wanted to disappear from there as soon as possible, which made her problem more complicated. If he had indeed done away, or even worse, run away, with the information, it was of the utmost importance that he be tracked down and brought to her immediately.

She scribbled a hurried memo, folded it into the form of a paper plane, and mumbled 'Head Auror's Office' to it, as she made her way to the elevators. The memo zoomed away and into the closing doors; it would reach its destination just before she did. She only had to wait three minutes till another elevator that was traveling upwards opened at her floor, and she got on, tapping her foot on the metal bottom while braiding her hair down her side. The tight bun would give her a headache and that was one thing she couldn't afford to have at the moment.

She strode out of the elevator as it pinged open on the level where the Auror Department was located, and made her way toward the Head Auror's office. She knocked once and entered before she was told she could.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," she said breathlessly and the two men who were hunched over a map looked up at her.

"Rose?" Harry half turned as though to block Rose's view of the map and the other Auror hastily folded it shut. She wanted to roll her eyes at that, but stepped in and said in a low voice,

"Uncle Harry, a moment, please?"

Harry regarded her with a slight frown and then seeming to deem it important enough that he could stop whatever he had been doing, nodded at the other Auror. As soon as the man left, Harry raised the piece of parchment in his hand and asked, "Is this about the matter you just wrote me about?"

Rose nodded, trying not to bounce on her heels or fiddle with her hands, lest she seem unprofessional. "Can you find him?"

"Do you really think he could have done something like breach levels of such high security?"

If it were any other time, she probably would have been exasperated by Harry's endearing tone, but just then, all she wanted to know was that she hadn't caused any permanent damage to her department and the people who worked there, therefore in turn, the Ministry.

"It isn't clear yet, as he may have had access to data with a high clearance level," she said as calmly as she could, without asking him to hurry.

"How high?"

"Head of Department."

Harry raised his eyebrows at her. "You gave someone access to your magical signature?"

"No, not mine exactly. I only rearranged it so that he could access the files he needed with his own signature without having to get clearance from me every time."

"Rose, we don't give normal Ministry workers such power for a reason—"

"He was the Secondary Division Head," Rose interrupted impatiently. She should have expected Harry to ask half a dozen questions before he agreed to send a few Aurors to perform such a wide-scale search. But every minute lost was a minute she couldn't get back and that didn't bode well with her.

Harry frowned at her impatience and asked, "Was? As in, he's no more the Head?"

Rose wasn't sure what exactly Harry wanted her to say, so she answered every form of that question. "Scorpius arrived earlier than planned, so Mister Wernicks was asked to step down. It had also been brought to my notice that he had been doing quite a few unscrupulous things behind my back, so I had to let him go."

"And you let him go knowing he had knowledge of said information?"

"Uncle Harry, I had no idea he had been withholding information from me for the past five years! I would really appreciate it if you would put out a BOLO for him so that I can get the rest of my department and the information under control."

Harry eyed her with his typical 'Auror face' and asked, "Are you sure all the information is accounted for?"

Rose's breath caught as she noticed the tone of his voice. He thought she had been incredibly irresponsible to let something like what she had, happen, and he probably also thought she may have been too young for the position of H.O.D after all.

"Renée and Scorpius are on it as we speak."

Harry raised his eyebrows and regarded her with an expression that she thought meant that he was deciding whether she had come to him to clean up her mess, in which case he most definitely would do it only after an excruciatingly long interrogation session that she didn't have the time for, or if she had simply made a small error that had unfolded into a series of unfortunate events. She wanted to scream in frustration and tell him that this was the first time she had committed a mistake on her own accord, but that would seem like she was defending herself out of guilt, like Wernicks had, and she would rather Harry treat her like a suspect than fall down to that man's level.

While she waited for Harry to make his decision, as though hearing her silent prayers, there was a hurried rap on the door and Scorpius poked his head in.

"May I," he panted and Rose noted that he was short of breath and was pink in the face. He must have run all the way there from wherever he had been. When Harry waved him in, Scorpius nodded at him and then turning to Rose, said, "We've rechecked all the important information. None of the data seems to be missing or tampered with. The others are still going through the rest to see if—"

"No need," Harry cut in, folding Rose's memo into a neat square and placing it in between his index and middle fingers. He touched Rose's arm as he walked past her and called out the door, "Tom? Yeah, have you found him yet? That Wernicks fellow who was given the pink slip an hour ago. Yeah? Alright, go take that lunch break, Tom."

He then poked his head back in and held out the square of memo in between two fingers to Rose, his eyes glittering. She eyed him expectantly.

"They caught him before he got into the tube in Muggle London. He's causing a big ruckus, I'm sure. I'll call you once my men are done drilling him."

"I don't think you'll have to _drill_ him or anything, he wouldn't lie—"

Harry chuckled and shook his head, causing Rose to frown at him.

"Rosie, it was just a figure of speech. I'll take good care of him, I promise."

"Wait, you found him already? That means—"

Harry raised his fingers that held the memo, an amused smile on his face. "Of course I sent Aurors after him as soon as I got your memo."

Rose's mouth fell open as the implications of what he'd done became clear. "Then you were yanking my chain this whole time!"

Harry made a face and said, "A girl shouldn't be saying 'yanking my chain', Rosie."

"I'm a woman!"

"Yes, yes," he chortled, ushering her and Scorpius out.

"Oh, and it's good to have you back, Scorpius. Rosie seemed awfully lost without having you to 'yank her chain'," Harry said, grinning. Rose turned red. Scorpius grinned back and did a smart salute.

"It's good to be back, sir. I'll be sure to make-up for all the yanking she's missed. Five years worth of it."

"You do that," Harry replied, laughing as he disappeared back into his office.

Rose immediately backhanded Scorpius in the stomach and glared at him.

"Oof! Alright, alright, I promise I won't do any wanking!"

Rose's eyes widened at that and her face flushed.

"I don't care if you yank or wank! I'm leaving!"

She turned on her heel and stomped toward the elevators, too hot-headed to see the cheeky grins on the face of all the Aurors around who had heard her exclamation, or the way Scorpius's eyes twinkled with promise as he made his way after her.

* * *

**A/n: I really do not know how I feel about this chapter, so please review and tell me what you think!**

**Oh, and, Harry's here! yay!**

**Love~**


	4. We Live To Serve

**A/n: Thank you for all the love!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**We Live To Serve**

* * *

"Rose Weasley, if you don't _listen _to me one more time, I swear I'll jump out that window and to my death."

"You can try, although I have a feeling you aren't going to be breaking anything more than your nose," Rose replied in a bored voice, as she signed off another sheet of parchment.

"You said you'd let me ramble after you got back, but you didn't, and it's tomorrow already!" Renée whined.

"You're making little to no sense, Ren. I think you should lay off the coffee for a little."

"You pinky promised!"

"Oh my, someone broke a pinky promise? That's positively horrible."

Rose sighed and glanced up as Scorpius poked his head into their office with a little wave.

"If you have time to loiter about and irritate other people, then do some work, Malfoy," Rose snapped, as Renée wailed and clung onto him, whining about how unfair Rose was. Scorpius chuckled and somehow convinced the brunette to go check on what the others were doing for a change of pace. He came and perched on the corner of Rose's desk and she squinted suspiciously up at him.

"What do you want?"

"There's no need to be snarky, Miss Weasley. I'm only here to check on your well-being."

"My well-being would be very well if you weren't here annoying me."

"But I promised your uncle—"

"Scorpius, if you have nothing better to do, then go annoy someone else, because I am not in the mood."

She ignored him and focused on her work, but it didn't stop her from feeling his presence beside her like a bubble of warmth radiating heat at her. After a minute, he started walking his fingers along the top of the stack she was signing.

"Why are you here?!" she yelled, throwing her quill down and looking at him with mounting irritation.

"To do this," he replied, and came to stand behind her. She was about to turn around and ask him what the bloody hell he thought he was doing, but he placed his hands on her shoulders and slowly used his thumbs to put pressure just under her shoulder blade. The relaxing effect was almost instantaneous, as her eyelids fluttered and she groaned softly, her rigid frame going limp from his ministrations.

He slowly massaged her shoulders, easing out the knots and kinks. Rose's head was hanging like a ragdoll's, her chin touching her chest and her eyes closed as she breathed deeply and let the tension leave her body under his skillful hands. It was probably twenty minutes later that he pulled his hands away and she immediately missed the warmth and pressure of them, causing her to flush and mentally chastise herself for reacting that way.

"Better?"

She jerked so violently, the back of her head bumping into his shoulder, as he leaned down and spoke softly in her ear. Rose nodded, her breathing suddenly shallow, as she felt heat rise to her face.

"Yes," she replied breathlessly, when he didn't seem like he would move away until he got a satisfying answer. "Much better, thank you."

"We live to serve," he murmured and she could feel his hot breath on her neck, making the hairs there stand on end. She cleared her throat, an indication for him to move away, but instead of taking the hint, he stretched his arm out and tapped the sheet she had been signing before he interrupted her. Rose unconsciously pulled away so he didn't touch her, especially since he was so close.

"Why have you signed this deal?" he asked nonchalantly, as though he was asking about the weather. More than slightly ruffled by how close he was, she looked where he was pointing and frowned. She re-read the clauses of the deal as his question echoed in her head. She sighed and leaned back, her head once again resting against his shoulder. She froze, her first instinct being to jerk away, but seeing how that would be awkward since she herself had sat back, she simply remained very still, mentally demanding that he move away instead.

But he only flipped the edge of the parchment up to examine the one below it and said in the same low voice, "This one as well. This project demands too much and offers little to no guarantee of its effectiveness."

He moved his head to look at the stack of the ones she'd already signed. "See, this one here as well. Rose, why are you blindly signing deals without even glancing at them?"

It wasn't because his shoulder was brushing against her hair when he moved. It wasn't because she could feel the heat from his body because he was so close. It wasn't even because the distance between them was highly inappropriate for the workplace. It was because when he had turned his head, his lips had touched her ear, and when he spoke, she could feel the vibration against her skin and it went through her like a jolt of lightening, like she was lying on one of those Muggle full-body-vibrating-massage-contraptions.

She squealed almost inaudibly and shrank away from him, her face burning. He must have noticed, because he immediately pulled back and reaching forward, collected all the sheets of parchment she had been signing away from her.

"This," he said, tapping them with his finger, "will be finished by me, while you go home and get some rest. Permission to use your signature?"

She didn't dare look at him because she knew her face was tomato red, and it reminded her of the times when they had been in school, and he had made fun of her endlessly for that. So she simply nodded, bent down to retrieve her shoes, and with a quiet goodnight, was out the door before he managed to stop her for something else.

She had always known it, but with the five years he had been away, she had let her guard down and gotten too used to a life where there was no Scorpius Malfoy constantly hovering over her and noticing the smallest of things; like how she could really use a de-stressing massage, or how she could use someone telling her to go rest because she'd done enough work.

It seemed like she'd have to be reminded again that her version of the horrid Malfoy boy had long since grown up into a trustworthy adult, who, although enjoyed poking fun at her, also knew exactly what to say to her and when to say it.

* * *

When Rose awoke, it was to the light of midday streaming in through the curtains and directly at her face. She groaned and sat up, momentarily disoriented as to which day of the week it was and what she was doing in bed so late. She remembered the previous night's – or rather, earlier that day's – happenings and groaned. She would have to deal with him every day of the year from now on and she wasn't quite sure if she was ready for that.

She walked into the office while reading through some files she'd been given on the way there. "Renée, have you catalogued—"

She stopped abruptly, both in what she was saying as well as her walking, as she stared at the scene inside the office.

Scorpius was sitting – or rather, _reclining_ – in _her _chair and had pulled it away from _her_ desk to face it toward the desk that was adjacent to hers and Renée's. It had originally been placed there for Scorpius's use, but for one or the other reason he had ended up with his own office and they now used the desk for other purposes.

Like how Renée was sitting on it with her feet dangling from the side and giggling.

The very fact that Renée Herington was _giggling_ was more of a shock to Rose than how she and Scorpius were sitting so casually and chatting so amicably, like they were two normal people in a Muggle café in the middle of London, rather than two Division Heads in their office in the Ministry of Magic. Renée giggled again at something Scorpius had said and Rose found herself getting unnecessarily irritated by her silly girlish demeanor.

"Good afternoon. You seem to be having an awful lot of fun for two people who just pulled an all-nighter," Rose said in as normal a tone of voice as she could muster. Renée turned to her with an 'Oh!' and jumping off the desk, staggered and caused Scorpius to immediately reach forward and lay both hands on her waist to steady her. Renée giggled idiotically again and Rose frowned.

"Renée, how many cups of coffee have you gotten through since we last spoke?"

Renée placed her hands on Scorpius's arms as she swayed, and waggled her eyebrows at Rose.

"I've graduated," she slurred and Rose sighed and nodded. She wasn't about to deal with Renée's coffee-drunkenness that early in the workday.

"I don't even need cups anymore. I've moved on to bigger and badder things."

Even though her brain was telling her not to, Rose had to ask, "Like what?"

"Like really big mugs," Renée said in a slow, awed sort of voice, putting her hands together to show Rose exactly how big.

It was a good thing Renée made it a point to constantly remind Rose on a daily basis that, although she looked and behaved like the sophisticated heiress she was, her actual personality was that of a mischievous little girl who liked to get into no end of trouble. Especially when she was high on caffeine and lacked sleep.

"All right, little lady," Scorpius said, standing up and steering Renée toward the door. "I think it's time for your nap."

"I'm not a little lady and I don't nap!" came the indignant reply and Rose thanked Merlin that most of the heavy duty work began in the evening and continued through the night, meaning there wouldn't be many people from Renée's division to see her in her state. Scorpius was probably taking her to the temporary quarters at the end of the hall. It had been installed so the scientist wizards could take the occasional shut-eye in order to avoid constant explosions and fire-hazards that the Ministry had absolutely refused to pay for after the first two dozen times.

Sighing, Rose pulled her chair back to its place and plopped down on it, reaching for one of the towering stacks of parchment on her desk. As she flipped through them, making sure to glance at the clauses and conditions in small script, she noted that all the ones that were in that pile had her magical signature stamped on them and were deals that would actually work on a long time basis, unlike the ones she had mindlessly signed previously. Meaning, the smaller of the two piles to her left were the discarded deals and the three stacks to her right were probably all the reports from the previous days' data collection extravaganza.

She was half way through the sheets labeled 'important', when there was a knock on the door and a man in a white lab suit stuck his head in.

"Am I good," he asked in a nasal voice, pushing up his thick-rimmed glasses. Rose nodded.

"Yes, Professor Ming, how may I help you?"

"Ah," the man said, shuffling inside and burrowing in his pocket for something. Finding whatever it was he had been looking for – which was a small, crumpled piece of parchment – he hobbled over to her desk and stuck the small memo under her nose. Leaning back, she took it from him and scanned its contents with one glance. It seemed like a hurriedly scribbled permission slip to access the level 5 archives in the Ministry library. Rose frowned.

"What happened to the books in the department's library?"

"The ones we want are still in the main system, ma'am."

"Why?"

Ming shrugged like he couldn't care less about why the books were where they were as all he wanted was her seal of approval so he could get what he wanted, and get back to whatever it was he had been doing.

But it wasn't going to be that easy. Rose's frowned deepened and she placed the memo down on the desk with her hand on top of it, forcing Ming to direct his gaze toward her – which he did with some effort.

"Professor Ming, weren't all the data and books related to R&amp;E supposed to be transferred into the department's library three months ago?"

Ming shrugged and stuck his pinky in his year, reaffirming his initial disinterest as to where his information came from. Rose pursed her lips at the man.

One of the reasons why Rose let Renée have her way and overdose on coffee and badmouth the older workers – with cause, of course – was because the members of the 'lab coat division', as everyone called them, were a pain in the arse to deal with. They cared about nothing and no one unless it had some direct connection to their work, and in a way, it handled half the problems that would have otherwise kept Rose busy, but that didn't mean they were any easier to deal with.

She nodded, knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere with the man and gave him what he wanted. He snatched the memo from her so eagerly, his small eyes shining, that she almost felt bad for getting irritated with him. That didn't solve her problem in the least though and she sighed, making a note on one of her note pads to remind Renée about the library transfer.

She had just immersed herself into another stack, when there were two sharp raps on the door. Biting back a sigh, she looked up with a small expectant smile and was rewarded with a pleasant shock. She sat back wide-eyed, her mouth hanging open, as three people walked in with big grins on their faces.

"Hi Rose! It's been so long!"

"What's with that face, eh? I'd think you'd be a little happier to see your beloved cousins."

"And your niece."

Rose stood up with an airy laugh and came around her desk to hug first Dominique, then Teddy and finally kiss the air on either side of Victoire's cheeks. "This is a pleasant surprise," she admitted, honestly happy to see the three of them.

"It is, isn't it," Victoire replied, as she bounced the bundle in her arms and pulled the fuzzy blankets apart. Rose peered into the face of a tiny, gurgling baby girl whose nose was currently morphing from a pig's snout to what looked like a button.

"She can't control it yet," Teddy informed Rose with a grin, brushing his daughter's forehead fondly.

"Oh, she's so darling," Rose cooed, as Victoire placed the baby girl in her arms. "Have you decided what to call her yet?"

"We were debating whether her late grandmother would actually want her granddaughter to be named after her, so after much consideration, we – or Gabriel, rather – decided to call her Adèle Nymphadora 'Weasley-Lupin'."

"Speaking of which, where is he?" Rose looked behind Dominique, expecting to see Victoire and Teddy's six-year-old son – Gabriel Remus 'Weasley-Lupin', as Teddy had jokingly called him once, and the name had unfortunately stuck – prance in at any moment.

Victoire waved her hand and said, "He's with mama and papa. He wanted to come see his aunt, but papa was going to take him to the zoo, so…" she trailed off, the reason excellent enough for why a six-year-old would choose the Muggle zoo over visiting his aunt in the Ministry. Adèle squealed in her arms and Rose swiveled from side to side, smiling at the tiny bundle of joy.

They were laughing as Adèle babbled and waved her little pudgy arms in the air, accidentally entangling her hands in Rose's hair and fascinated by its colour, changing her own blonde head to a violent shade of red.

"There you go, Weasley through and through," Teddy laughed, as his daughter gaggled and stared wide-eyed at Rose's curls in her tiny fists.

There was a light knock on the glass partition just behind Dominique and Rose looked up to see Scorpius standing there and making beckoning gestures at her. She shook her head slightly and turned back to her baby niece, when there was a sharper knock. This time the others noticed and looked up curiously. Rose pursed her lips at Scorpius and he raised his hands as though telling her that he'd tried to be polite and she'd disregarded him. Sighing, she placed Adéle in Victoire's arms and excused herself, feeling her cousins' eyes stare after her.

Curse the bloody glass.

"I should take you up on that suggestion of turning the partition to wood," she said in a low voice to Scorpius, as she motioned for him to walk with her. He snorted.

"Why? Because everyone can see how adorable you look when you're playing with a baby?"

Rose stopped abruptly, her face heating up. She grit her teeth and glowered at the blond. He looked at her with shining eyes, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she bit out, crossing her arms and scowling up at him. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked over her shoulder at the trio still in the office.

"Won't your cousins be curious to know why I'm here?"

"Did you drag me out of there simply to make small talk?"

Scorpius chuckled lightly and shook his head. "No, actually. I'm here because Jordon told me that you were upset that the library transfer hadn't happened yet."

Rose frowned. Scorpius waved his hand distractedly and said, "Professor Ming. I ran into him on my back from tucking Renée in—" Rose had to roll her eyes at that, because knowing Renée, she'd probably had him do just that. "—and he was standing in the middle of the corridor, staring at a piece of parchment like he wasn't sure what it was. So I offered to clear his confusion and he told me what happened."

"You don't have to be bothered. Renée will take care of it once—"

"Doesn't she have that big meeting this evening?"

Rose tugged at her earlobe as her mind raced to ascertain that piece of information. She finally nodded, recollecting Renée mentioning a dinner with some foreign donors, a while back.

"You still do that thing," Scorpius interrupted her thoughts and she glanced up at him in confusion. He motioned to her ear. "That thing where you pull your ear when you're trying to remember something."

She blushed and dropped her hand. "Anyway," she said, "why the sudden enthusiasm to do something that anybody, especially you, would consider extremely boring?"

Scorpius shrugged. "You're unhappy because it isn't done, yes?"

"Yes," Rose said slowly, eyeing him suspiciously. He smiled at her and her heartstrings fluttered.

"There you have it, then."

"What," she said dumbly. "You're doing it simply to make my life easier?"

He titled his head, that same wide-eyed expression of innocence on his face. She was still debating on how she felt about it. Irritated or unamused.

"No ulterior motives? No underlying context? No hidden agendas?"

"My, Miss Weasley, do you trust your own right hand so little?"

"Renée is my right hand."

"Left hand, then."

Rose narrowed her eyes warily at him. She didn't believe his farce for a second. "What is it that you want, Scorpius?"

"In return for what?"

"In return for being so helpful."

"A pleasant smile in place of your constant frowns and a little less condescension would do the trick, I suppose," he said, tapping his chin as though he was actually considering it. She flushed and stuck her lower lip out. He chuckled.

"Really, Rose. I already finished whatever work I had, so I decided that going out of my way once in a while would do no one any harm. After all," he said, and bowing slightly, brought her hand to his mouth and blew against her knuckles, "we live to serve."

* * *

**A/n: Two things I wanted to mention: One, Renée is characterized after one of my very good friends; she's all sophisticated on first glance but the more you get to know her, the more you realize how childishly mischievous she is.**

**Two, there will be one or two more incidents with coffee-induced highs, and I just wanted to tell you that getting so high on a few mugs of coffee is an actual thing, because it's based off my very own embarrassing intolerance to caffeine. So no, I am not exaggerating. Siriusly.**

**Writing Scorpius is killing me sometimes I have to take a break in between just to cool off and get my thoughts straight. Geez.**

**Tell me what you think because reviews are the Scorpius to my Rose! **

**Love~**


	5. Locked Out

**A/n: _OMG the new format has the horizontal divider thank Merlin I missed it so much -cries-_**

**Ahem. Back to the story.**

**Love~**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Locked Out**

* * *

"—and then you tell me you forgot to take your key again… Rosie, are you _listening_?"

Rose groaned and rubbed her face with her hands. "Mum _please,_ OK? I didn't come here to have you lecture me."

Hermione looked over her shoulder with pursed lips. "It's exactly _because_ you're here, that I have to lecture you."

Rose dropped her hands and made a face. Hermione put her hand to her hip and half-turned away from the stove.

"You only ever come home when you either lock yourself out of your apartment, or if you're unbearably sick, or it's one of our birthdays."

"Mum, you know how it gets at the Ministry—"

"Don't give me that," Hermione chastised, cutting Rose off with a wave of her ladle. "I used to work at the Ministry. I know how busy it can get, but that's no excuse for not coming to see your family at least twice a month."

"I've lived on my own for nearly a decade now! Why is it that you keep insisting I come home so often!? I would, if I could!"

Hermione turned fully and leaned her hip against the counter, a blank expression on her face.

"It's not easy being the Head of a department like mine," Rose groused and her mother raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"You could at least fire-call us every now and then or send us a letter or two."

"_Mum!"_ Rose threw her hands up and stomped away, furious at her mother for constantly badgering her about coming home. As though Hugo didn't annoy her about it enough.

She stomped up the stairs; satisfied by the pained creaks of the wood, and let her feet take her to her room as her mind grumbled on endlessly about her persistently nosy family. As though it wasn't bad enough that she had forgotten her keys in her flat and had no choice but to come back to her parents' house.

She pushed open the door to her room and froze, her foot hanging in the air. She stared at the boxes and boxes of Merlin knew what that were piled haphazardly all over her room, spilling their contents onto the floor and smelling of dust and disuse.

"_Mum,_" she shrieked, and when Hermione didn't bother answering, dashed to the railing and bending halfway over it, screamed, "_Mother, why has my bedroom been converted into a storeroom?!"_

Hermione took her time pausing whatever she was doing to come and stand at the bottom of the stairs. She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows as though she was telling Rose she knew exactly why. Rose huffed in disbelief and asked, "Is this punishment? What am I, ten? Are we doling out punishment to those who aren't good children, now?"

When Hermione simply shrugged a shoulder, Rose made a furious sound and banged on the wooden railing. "Mum, this isn't funny!"

Her mother gave her a look that said she certainly thought it was, and walked back to the kitchen, humming a satisfied tune. Rose yelled in frustration and hung her head.

This was a repeat all of that one summer seven years ago when Hugo had upped and decided that his calling had finally come and he was dropping out of school to turn pro. He only lasted till the end of summer though, when he came crawling back with a letter from Hogwarts that clearly stated that if Hugo wasn't on the school train when he was supposed to be, then things would get unnecessarily ugly. Rose always had a suspicion that had something to do with her parents having contacts inside the school.

If her brother's spirits hadn't been dampened enough, he had opened the door to his room to find it overflowing with crates and boxes and what-not that Hermione had Conjured to fill up the space. When he had looked at her with fearful wide-eyes, she had shrugged at him the same way she had just done with Rose and said, "You said you weren't coming back, so… plus, I meant to clean out the attic anyway."

Rose shook her head and slammed the door to her room shut. She hadn't lost just yet.

* * *

"And that's why you're on my doorstep begging me to let you spend the night here?"

"I'm not begging," Rose snapped, and then added, "but I am asking as a favour."

Renée raised her eyebrows and pinched her lips together like she was finding the whole situation so completely hilarious that she couldn't help but let Rose suffer a little while longer.

"Are you going to let me in or not," Rose demanded, when Renée started raising her eyebrows one at a time to see if she could get the other to go up just as high. The brunette grinned and said,

"What are friends for, right?"

Rose rolled her eyes and pushed past her friend and through the door. She flopped down on the couch with a sigh and let her eyes drift lazily around the familiar sitting room. She did a double take when she saw the large, black, rectangular thing hung on the wall and goggled at Renée.

"Oh, she's magnificent isn't she? Simply beautiful," Renée crooned, fondly caressing the top of the overly large TV.

"You bought a Muggle idiot box," Rose choked out, rubbing her eyes in case she was seeing things. Renée shot her a triumphant grin.

"She arrived two days ago. We've been getting along so well. Oh, and she even does this thing; if you play around with that black square with buttons – it's called a remote – and wear these funky spectacles, it's like everything's jumping out at you. Want to try?"

Rose shied away from Renée, the TV and everything else, as she eyed the room suspiciously. The brunette scowled at the redhead.

"Really, Rose? You have a coffee machine in your office that you never use and you're being prejudiced towards my Linda?"

"_Please tell me you did not name your TV."_

* * *

Rose sighed deeply as she sprawled across her chair and leaned back, testing to see how far it would go. She remained there, swiveling the chair from side to side and stared up at the ceiling. Of all the days to leave her flat without her keys. And just after she'd reactivated the wards on it too.

"This is a pleasant surprise."

Rose shut her eyes and tried to imagine that her perfect moment of misery hadn't just been ruined by the one single person who could possibly make things any worse.

Scorpius slunk up to her desk at a relaxed pace and dropped the heavy box he was holding on it with a loud thud. Rose jumped and looked at him wide-eyed. He smirked and placed his hands in his pockets, as though waiting for Rose to explain exactly what she was doing in her office on a Sunday – the one day she got to take off.

After much consideration, she muttered, "Locked myself out."

"_Alohomora_?"

"Oh my goodness, why didn't _I _think of that," she snapped, laying her head on her arms.

"So..."

"Go away."

"Actually, I can't, see. Not with you in here."

Rose raised her head to squint at him. "What."

Scorpius shrugged, his smirk twitching with what she immediately recognized as suppressed laughter. "Nobody's allowed in here on Sundays."

"You're here."

"Except me. I work on Sundays."

"This is _my _office."

"Not on Sundays."

Rose pressed her lips together and willed herself not to lose her self-control. First her mother, then her best friend and now _him._ What a perfectly miserable day. And just when she had thought it wouldn't get any worse. She nodded and stood up. Scorpius looked at her with mild surprise.

"You're leaving?" he asked, when she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She made a face at him.

"You just told me to get out, and now that I am, you have a problem?"

Scorpius raised his hands and eyebrows and mouthed 'wow'. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Hurry up, Malfoy. I want at least a bit of my sanity left to go figure out how to break through my own wards."

Scorpius seemed to brighten and asked, "Can I come?"

"No."

For some unfathomable reason, he seemed quite taken aback by the instant rejection.

"Why not?" he asked with what sounded like genuine curiosity.

"Because you're an annoying know-it-all and you find this whole situation thoroughly amusing."

Scorpius scrunched up his nose and tutted. "You got me there."

Rose groaned loudly and throwing a hand in the air, made toward the door.

"I really _can_ help, though," Scorpius said, squeezing between Rose and her only means of escape and stretching his hand to block her from dodging him.

"Why," she said, hitting him in the chest, "do you care!"

His eyes narrowed and he somehow seemed offended by either what she had said or how she had said it, or both.

"I _care_," he said harshly, "because you're my boss and you seem to have gotten yourself into a spot of trouble."

"Oh, so you go around offering your help to all your superiors, do you?"

Scorpius threw his hands in the air and shook his head. "Rose, you're being unreasonable. I've been nothing but charming and helpful since I got back and have done nothing to be treated like this."

She knew he was telling the truth, but that didn't do anything to her foul mood other than make it worse. "I'm sorry if you haven't noticed, but I hold grudges and it seems to be something genetic."

Scorpius's shoulders slumped ever so slightly and he put his hands on his hips; looking away and scoffing when she continued to stare at him. Finally he nodded and shrugged.

"Alright. I won't be a bother anymore."

"Thank you," Rose breathed and pushed past him.

He might not have expected that, because he exclaimed and called after her, "I was wrong to think that people don't change in five years!"

"Not really," Rose called back, "just you!"

And she nearly ran to the elevators, praying that he didn't suddenly decide to follow her and keep at it. But even as the thought crossed her mind, she knew it was silly, because what he'd said was actually true. People _do_ change a lot in five years. Scorpius obviously did.

She sighed and leaned back tiredly. She had gotten into three different situations with three different people that day and had stormed out on all of them. _Must be all the stress,_ she tried to convince herself, although she already knew she was going to have to apologize to both her mum and Renée, and definitely Scorpius.

"Auror's daughter alright, bloody hell."

* * *

She swore again as her previous spell bounced harmlessly off the ward around her door and hit the railing behind her, turning it into a rope. If only Ron hadn't instilled the idea of 'Prevention is better than cure' in her head since a tender age, she wouldn't be in the situation she was now.

Not that it was anything new to her, getting locked out of her own home. When she had too much on her mind she would - more often than not – forget her keys and leave, only to come back to find that she couldn't get past her wards. Especially since one, they had been placed there by her father, who was a trained Auror even if he was out of the running, and two, because he'd made it in such a way that it could only be unlocked from the inside or by using her keys that had been enchanted to get past the wards. Two kinds of magic she was absolutely useless with.

Also, and she blamed herself for this, the fact that she hadn't bothered paying much attention to her overprotective father seven years ago, as he went on and on about how he would only let her move out if only she let him overdo on the wards on her flat. Sometimes she blamed him for her inability to pay attention to important things the second she sensed the underlying rant.

Not to mention the fact that her parents made full use of her locking herself out to get her to return home. Ron even went so far as refusing to repeat more than the most basic intricacies regarding the spell work behind the wards just to make sure the afore-mentioned happened. How she wished they weren't half as cunning as they were.

She squatted down on the floor and moaned. If only she had listened to Hugo's suggestion of charming her key so it automatically ended up on her person once she was a certain distance away from it. If only she hadn't argued with her mother and stormed out. If only she hadn't gotten irritated by Renée turning the stupid telly on full volume and guffawing at the most idiotic of jokes. If only she had let Scorpius come along and help her instead of being a prat to him.

She couldn't call anyone for help either. Ron wouldn't leave the shop until much later, and she honestly would rather return shame-faced to her mother than listen to another of her father's overly long, doting lectures. Hermione would obviously not help because she was still punishing Rose, Renée was absolutely clueless about such complicated spells, Albus worked the night shift on weekends, Harry was out on a case, Hugo's practice session lasted late into the night ever since they figured out how to manipulate Muggle floodlights with magic, Lily was out of the question, James was in Amsterdam, and she was sure none of her other cousins would be of any use in that situation either.

And she had foolishly thought the day had already finished doling out its worst.

She sighed again, wondering to herself if she was brave enough to injure her pride in order to sleep in her own bed. After some consideration - and the thought of hot chocolate and her comfortable quilt - she decided that yes, it was worth the consequences. Besides, once a Gryffindor, always a Gryffindor.

* * *

It shouldn't have surprised her that Scorpius would be more amused than angry with what she had done. From the confident way in which he was leaning on the doorframe and regarding her, she was sure he'd expected her to come running to him for help. It was the thought that she had done exactly that, that irritated her to no end.

"Why Miss Weasley," he drawled, a full, superior smirk of accomplishment painted across his face. She only let him have his moment because she had been despicable toward him. "What brings you back here?"

Rose cleared her throat and tilted her chin up, not quite willing to let him look down on her. Not that it made any difference, since she had to look up at him anyway and he would look down at her unless he was sitting down and she was standing over him. Even that probably wouldn't make much of a difference.

"I'm here," she began slowly, just to make sure her voice sounded controlled and didn't betray how she felt, "because I've come to ask for your help."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. He was full on grinning by then and she was doing all she could to not hex the smug look right off his ridiculously handsome face. "My help? What in the world for?"

Oh, two could play this game. She eased her face into a smile and looked up at him through her lashes. "It would seem that I've been locked out of my house by my wards and I don't seem to be able to disable them."

Scorpius tilted his head, his silver eyes shimmering. "That's an unfortunate mistake even the most intelligent of wizards make. Although, I would think it customary to learn how to disable the wards around one's own home before enabling them?"

And of course she had expected him to be an absolutely condescending git about the whole situation. But she had come prepared for exactly that. She fluttered her eyelashes and placed a hand to her cheek.

"My, you're absolutely right. I don't know what I was thinking when I left home this morning."

She gave him a smile that she knew could melt the pants off any self-respecting male, especially since she had successfully used it on several exceedingly annoying men to get her way with so many things ever since she joined the Ministry. And it seemed to be working, because Scorpius's eyes widened ever so slightly and he seemed momentarily confused as to what exactly he had been doing.

But of course, she wasn't dealing with any ordinary male either. Being able to faze Scorpius Malfoy for more than a few seconds was an achievement in itself. He propped his elbow on the doorframe of his office and leaned on it, his face shifting smoothly back to its usual self-important countenance.

"I suppose," he drawled and Rose jolted from the silky tone his voice had assumed. He leaned forward ever so slightly and his eyes seemed to have turned into a darker shade of grey, "I could come and aid a damsel in distress."

"You are so very kind," Rose said, a little more breathily than she intended to, but the easy smile that stretched across her lips was a well-practiced one and she spun on her heel, letting the clack-clack of her shoes disrupt the sudden heaviness of the air around her.

She breathed through her mouth and was mildly shocked at how fast her heart was racing and how hot her face was. Goddamned Scorpius Malfoy and his bloody pheromones.

* * *

Rose watched as Scorpius squatted in front of her door and peered into the keyhole as though he expected it to suddenly decide to unlock itself. He hummed thoughtfully and then sat back on his heels, pulling his wand out of the waistband of his pants. She bit her tongue to stop herself from commenting on that. She could do it once she was sitting down on her favorite sofa with her favorite mug in her hand.

"Do you know the logistics behind the spell work?" he asked her, interrupting her thoughts.

"My one house key – that I left inside – has the exact same spell trace on it that lets the wards recognize it and lets me through them."

Scorpius looked up at her with an impressed look on his face. "That's some highly complex spell work. Let me guess, your dad?"

She probably should have been offended that he immediately disregarded even the slightest chance that she may have been the one to think of that. Which was quite obvious, considering that was why he was there in the first place. She nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She probably should have been more concerned by how he followed that simple motion with the same concentration with which he had been staring through the keyhole.

"Yeah, that was one of the conditions on which he let me move out. He absolutely wouldn't have it any other way and I really couldn't stand all the arguing any longer."

She waved her hand when he frowned slightly. "My parents like arguing. Apparently it keeps things 'fresh' between them. Illogical, I know, but it's worked for so long."

He snorted and turned back to the door, gesturing to it with his finger. "I'm not exactly sure on the intricacies of it, considering I haven't had any formal training regarding this like your father has, but I may be able to confuse the wards enough so you can _Alohamora_ yourself in. You'll have to be swift though," he added, glancing at her high-heeled shoes.

She slipped them off and held them in her hands, exclaiming at the coldness of the floor. He stood up and taking a step back, looked at her with an excited grin. "Ready?"

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" she asked mildly and he shrugged.

"It's not every day you get to break down a trained Auror's wards."

Rose snorted and smiled. His childish excitement reminded her of how he used to be during their time in Hogwarts, when he'd learn spells much higher than their grade simply for the thrill of it. They had been very much alike when it came to that.

"And out of simple curiosity, your dad didn't think to tell you how to disable the wards?"

"Well... he probably did, somewhere in between all the yelling and swearing and demanding that I stay at home, but after weeks of it, I just stopped listening."

"And you never thought to ask him again?"

She shrugged. "My parents were much happier that locking myself out at least forced me to go back home. And one way or another, he probably overestimated me too much anyway."

He scoffed and she pursed her lips. And it was the perfect reason for her to go home every now and then. Ron was certainly smarter than he looked, that was for sure.

Scorpius raised his wand and Rose followed, hoping whatever he was about to do didn't backfire and throw them off the railing at their backs. Her flat was on the fifth floor and she didn't want to think about being blasted off it.

"Alright," Scorpius said and twisted his wand slowly, his lips pursed in concentration. Rose focused on the lock and replayed the wand movement for _Alohamora_ in her head, like she was a student practicing for a test.

"Easy does it," Scorpius grunted and the wards on the door shimmered and turned from bluish to reddish.

"Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh?" Rose hissed, not looking away. "Don't tell me you messed up."

"I didn't," he replied in a way that implied that there was more to it.

"But?"

"But I think I missed a key factor regarding the core spell work."

"You better be yanking my chain, Scorpius, because this isn't funny."

"Just out of curiosity," he said, his voice getting a strained edge to it, "what exactly are the protective spells your dad instilled into the wards?"

"We're on the fifth floor! It doesn't matter even if he put a simple repelling jinx in it!"

"Fair point well made, Miss Weasley.*" but even as he said it, the air around the wards was starting to distort and glow, and Rose involuntarily took a step back. She was debating if putting up a shield would somehow make the situation better, and just as she moved her wand, Scorpius yanked her elbow and pulled her against his chest, his back to the door. The protective spells imbued into the wards were starting to take effect even as Rose muttered the shield charm.

"_Protego_," was the last thing she remembered before the explosion threw them over the railing.

* * *

**A/n: *The first person to get that reference gets giant virtual cookies and their name mentioned in the next chapter. x)**

**So I brought Hermione into this. See, I'll tell you now, there is no Harry Potter without Hermione Granger(Weasley). Ron is easily replaceable, but Not 'Mione. She is just sooooo amazing.**

**Tell me what you thought about this chapter and the cliffhanger! Reviews are the Hermione to my Harry Potter!**

**Love~**


	6. Old Scars

**Chapter 6**

**Old Scars**

* * *

Rose groaned and tried to get up, but there was something extremely heavy on top of her. She blinked and waited for hear vision to clear while she checked to make sure she didn't have any broken bones. She remembered it very vaguely, but she was sure Scorpius had broken their fall with a hasty cushioning charm just before they hit the pavement.

The weight on her shifted and she realized with some shock that it was Scorpius that was on top of her. She also quite vividly remembered him shielding her from the blast. That realization seemed to cause funny reactions in her stomach, but Scorpius groaning and moving was enough distraction to forget about it. He pulled himself up with one elbow and rubbed his head, cringing and pulling a piece of wood from his hair. He finally looked down and smiled sheepishly at Rose.

"I look quite the fool right now, don't I?"

Rose stared up at him, still slightly disoriented by the fall. "What?"

"I acted all high and mighty and everything and got us blown up." He placed his other arm on the other side of Rose, not even making the slightest attempt to get off of her. She looked at him and shook her head, feeling a little more than slightly befuddled.

"What—I don't—"

He laughed quietly and stared into her eyes. "Yeah, I'm just rambling, don't mind me."

"I can't not mind, you idiot, you're on top of me."

She was pretty sure she meant to say that in her head, but the effect it got was remotely entertaining nonetheless.

Scorpius's eyes widened infinitesimally and he breathed through his mouth, like he hadn't expected her to react like that. _She _hadn't expected her to react like that. She probably had a concussion or something.

"Yeah," Scorpius breathed and Rose suddenly felt conscious of their position. "My bad."

But he still remained where he was and she started to wonder if he'd maybe injured his back since it was directly in contact with the explosion. Before she could ask him that though—

"What the fuck?"

Scorpius looked up and Rose had to stifle a groan. Of _course_ her brother chose that _exact moment_ to come visit her. Her mum must have told him what had happened. Rose closed her eyes and suddenly there was no weight on top of her. She opened her eyes and squinted at the street light shining right in her face. Hugo's head shadowed it an instant later, as he bent down and looked at her.

"Help me up," she said and he pulled her to her feet. She stumbled slightly at the sharp prick of gravel against her soles and she winced as her back cracked. She turned and saw that Scorpius was standing to the side and examining his body for any injuries.

"How's your back?" she asked him, moving toward him even as Hugo's grasp on her hand tightened.

Scorpius grimaced at her and said, "I'm not sure yet. I can feel it like someone scraped sandpaper all along my back, but I can't be sure until I check."

Rose nodded. "Let's go."

"Where to?"

This time Hugo had spoken and she glanced at their hands where he was still holding hers. He noticed and let go. She looked up at him and said, "My apartment. Hopefully the damage is only external."

"Damage?" and then Hugo's eyes widened. "You didn't try to force your way in, did you?"

She smacked her lips and he ran a hand down his face. "Rosie," he groaned. "Were you not listening at _all_ when dad was telling you about the wards?"

"I was, but I was desperate and Scorpius said—"

"Are we back to that now?"

Rose looked up sharply because of the sour tone of Hugo's voice. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the way Hugo's jaw was set and his eyes had turned hard. She sighed.

"Let's go check on the damage first. People are going to wonder about the noise. We may have to take care of that—"

"You _really _don't listen, do you," Hugo snapped and Rose frowned at him.

"What—"

"It's noiseless," Scorpius explained from behind, as he cradled his left arm to his chest. When she stared at him, he repeated, "It's noiseless. So nobody would have heard."

"But, it was such a big explosion—"

"It was just a blast of hot air and bright light, nothing remotely dangerous. Unless, of course, your apartment is on the fifth floor and overlooks the street," he finished with a shrug of his shoulder.

"I'm more interested in knowing how and why you know that," Hugo cut in, now scowling at Scorpius and assuming a defensive stance in front of Rose.

"Hugh, stop it. You know how he knows, so stop being a prat and go check what's happened to my house."

She shoved his arm when it didn't look like he would move and he finally strode off with a 'Don't call me Hugh.' Scorpius walked up to Rose with raised eyebrows. "Looks like his dislike for me hasn't changed much either."

"Why would it?" she retorted, examining his arm. The skin of his upper arm was torn and bleeding. He was looking around, probably for his wand, and Rose lifted her hand where she still clutched hers and pointed it at his wound.

"Let me," she murmured when he began to pull away. "_Sanare_."

The blood immediately began to retreat back into his body and his skin began to heal shut. It was a spell she had never actually used, but was glad to see that it worked well. It was a complicated spell that healed an injury by reversing the effect of time on it to a point where it was at its physical best. Scorpius looked at Rose with an indescribable expression on his face as he flexed his arm.

"What?" she asked softly and he shook his head.

"Where'd you learn how to cast a proper healing spell?"

When Rose raised her eyebrows at the obvious question, Scorpius said 'Ah' and nodded. "Albus. Of course."

"Oi! Are you two coming, or what?!"

The duo jumped at the loudness of Hugo's voice and Rose glared up at him when she saw that he had cast a _Sonorus_ to be heard.

"Bloody idiot," she grumbled as she made toward the elevator. Scorpius grabbed her elbow to stop her and she looked back at him curiously.

"I'm sorry I triggered the wards," he said sincerely and a shadow passed across his face. It was gone before Rose could catch it, though, and he smiled tightly, nodding at her and moving toward the elevator, picking his wand off the ground along the way. She pinched her lower lip and wondered what that was all about.

They made their way to the fifth floor in silence and by the time they stepped out and turned the corner to her apartment, Hugo was already fixing the door back on its hinges.

"You might want to clean that up." He pointed at the dark smears surrounding the door and Rose made a face.

"Did everything look alright inside?"

Hugo sighed and shook his head, an irritated look on his face. She frowned.

"There are three layers to the wards," Scorpius said near her ear, making her jump. He continued without seeming to notice. "The first layer is the outermost one. The one that repelled my attempt to break through it. That's the one imbued with the offensive spells. The second and middle layer is the one that's the actual barrier separating the outside and the inside. And the third and innermost layer is the one that—"

"—protects the inside of the house from damage as it's imbued with defensive spells," Rose completed as she nodded and sighed.

Scorpius gave her a strange look and said in a musing sort of voice, "You knew that already, though."

In her frustration and preoccupied state of mind, she had forgotten about what her father had told her about the wards when she had first moved out, especially since she'd never faced a problem like having no place else to sleep before. She felt Scorpius's eyes on her and turned to him with a questioning look. He looked away, but not before she'd spotted the expression on his face. It looked something almost like… disappointment.

When he started to make toward the door, she grabbed him by the arm and stared at him until he was forced to ask her, "What?"

"Why'd you look at me like that?"

"Look at you like what?"

"Like you were… I don't know, disappointed or something," she said, waving her hand.

He gave her a brooding look and said so softly, she almost missed it, "I didn't think five years was enough for someone's core personality to change. I was just shocked, is all."

So he really did notice how she had failed to recall what her father had said about the wards. She swallowed, suddenly feeling very drained. She pushed past him and ignored Hugo's stare boring into her.

"_Tergeo_," she snapped and the smears on the walls slowly disappeared. She then stepped toward the door and was immediately pulled back by Hugo.

"Rose, if you're doing this on purpose, it's not funny," he hissed and she stared at the flickering barrier in front of her, realising the protective spells were still active even though the offensive layer would take some time to repair and restore itself.

"Shite," she said, jerking her arm away from Hugo's vice-like grip. What the hell was wrong with her? It seemed like ever since Scorpius had returned, she had been so preoccupied and distracted that she had even forgotten her keys and even the way her wards worked.

"Rosie," Hugo started but Rose took a step forward and cut him off with a sharp, "Not now, Hugo."

She raised her palm and prayed that what she was about to do would work.

"Wha— Rose—what the hell is she doing?"

Hugo had probably held Scorpius back, but she didn't want to turn to make sure. He'd have to deal with her brother until she finished.

"Please work," she whispered, as she placed her palm against the shimmering surface of the ward and gently pressed forward. She exhaled through her mouth as her hand passed through the shield with little to no resistance. She swallowed. Now came the more difficult part.

"_Accio_ keys." She spoke clearly, picturing the bunch of keys in the lower left drawer beside her bed and making the same motion with her hand as she would with her wand. She had never consciously performed wandless magic before and therefore didn't know whether or not it would work.

It was a daunting few seconds, until she finally heard the faint jingling of her keys as they zoomed 'round the corner and straight into her hand. She caught them effortlessly and heard both Hugo and Scorpius exhale audibly behind her. She carefully drew her hand back and let out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding. She watched as the wards flickered and dimmed, indicating that they had been disabled successfully.

"That was unnecessarily difficult," she muttered, as she heard Hugo come up behind her.

"I don't know whether to hit you or hug you," he said in a tired voice, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and kissing the side of her head.

"I definitely deserve a good whack," Rose agreed, as she stepped into her apartment with a sigh of relief. Hugo immediately made a beeline for her favorite sofa and flopped down on it. Rose turned around and waved her wand at Scorpius.

"Take off your shirt."

His reaction was probably the closest Rose had, and would, ever get to seeing Scorpius dumbfounded. His eyes went round and he looked thoroughly bewildered for a moment, his mouth falling open, before Rose rolled her eyes and said, "So I can take a look at your back, you dolt."

Scorpius snapped his mouth shut and rearranged his face, although his cheeks were now tinged pink. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hugo do the same. She shook her head slightly, although it was hard to keep the smile off her face.

Scorpius turned around and pulled his shirt off in one fluid motion and her heart thumped unnecessarily hard at the sight of his naked back. It wasn't like she'd never seen a man's back before, what with all the males in her family. Plus, she'd had her fair share of boyfriends and casual lovers, although she would never admit that to anyone. She wasn't exactly proud of her rebellious days.

Rose focused on the task at hand and was startled at the number of gashes on his back. She had thought that although the explosion seemed quite violent, her shield charm had protected Scorpius from any serious injury. Upon further inspection though, it looked like more than half the wounds on his back were healed scars from long before and only a countable few were from that night.

She barely touched one of his deeper and nastier looking scars and he bodily flinched away from her. When he looked over his shoulder at her to ask if something was wrong, she noticed that he was unusually pale. She decided that if he wanted to pretend like the scars didn't exist, she would respect that.

She Summoned her First Aid kit from the cupboard beside the couch and opened it up to fetch a bottle of antiseptic. Although it had worked earlier, she wasn't quite confident with her proficiency when it came to healing spells and she didn't want to take any unnecessary risks; so she placed small wads of cotton on the most recent wounds after cleaning them and reached for the gauze to keep the cotton in place.

When she reached around Scorpius to wrap the gauze around him, he completely froze, as though he didn't want to move in case she grazed against him by accident. She found that reaction highly unnerving, considering how physically close he had been with her in the past few days.

"Rose," Hugo said from just behind her and she yelped in surprise, flushing when he raised an eyebrow at her. He stretched out his hand and she stared at it.

"Let me do it," he said in a choked sort of voice and she nodded dumbly, placing the gauze in his outstretched palm. Hugo stepped up behind Scorpius and she watched as the blond instantly relaxed, as though he was glad that Rose was no longer the one tending to him. She didn't understand the way her chest tightened, or the feeling of mild betrayal, or how, when he looked at her, he had the same brooding look in his eyes and then immediately looked away.

Like he didn't want her near him.

She shook her head and mumbling something about changing her clothes, hurried out of the room. She didn't understand it. He flirted with her and teased her and invaded her personal space and yet he had the audacity to look like he'd rather have Hugo – who thoroughly disliked him – tending to his wounds than her, the person he had got those wounds from protecting, in the first place.

It made no sense. _He _made no sense. Even from as long as she could remember, Scorpius Malfoy had always been the boy who taunted and teased, jeered and mocked, smirked and sneered, and basically did whatever he could to get under her skin. He seemed to enjoy making her furious enough to whisk her wand out and shove it in his face; the way his eyes would shine like he was enjoying every moment of it, or the way he would laugh lightly like he was having the time of his life, or the way he would look at her with a piercing gaze like there was nowhere else he would rather be.

But when she would get upset and run away crying, he always seemed to look the most distressed and disappointed, like she had been the one to make fun of him and not the other way around. She had always thought it was because Albus always gave him a good talking to whenever he made Rose cry, or because Scorpius found it unappealing when she cried instead of getting all flustered and trying to hex his ears off.

Sometimes when she would pass him in the hallway, she'd feel his gaze on her and she'd look up to glare at him, but he'd shoot her a dazzling smile before turning to laugh at something one of the girls who always flocked him, said, and completely ignore her like she wasn't even there. He confused her endlessly, and every time she began to settle for one version of him – the teasing, careless, devil may care attitude-having boy who lived to tug on her twin tails and yell tomato-head as she blushed furiously, he would throw her off by suddenly doing something completely contradictory to everything he said or did.

She was never able to understand what the bloody hell went on in his head, and it seemed that almost a decade later, she still couldn't understand him, even though they were both much more mature and much more capable of comprehending human behavior than before. It was like he lived to confuse her and no matter what she did, Scorpius Malfoy was one unexplained mystery she simply couldn't understand head or tail of. Every time she thought she was getting close, he would do something completely inexplicable and throw her for a loop, sending her spiraling on another endless cycle.

She sighed; pulling the hoodie she'd taken from Hugo's room earlier that day over her tights and stepped into her most comfortable pair of slip-on shoes. She undid her hair from its braid and let it fall down her shoulders in all its wild, fiery glory. She carefully made her way back to the sitting room, relieved to see that Hugo had finished dressing Scorpius's wounds and that the two were sitting on the same couch without Hugo trying to hex Scorpius's limbs off.

"Let's go," she said and the two males looked up at her.

"Go where?" Hugo asked, standing up and eyeing her hoodie. "Hey! That's my Chudley Cannons sweatshirt! I've been looking for it all over the place!"

"It's mine now," Rose said, sticking her tongue out at her brother. Hugo frowned at her and caught her tongue, making her push away from him.

"Eargh! Hugo, that's disgusting!"

"You're telling me," he said, making a face and wiping his hand on the hoodie. "I'm the one who had to touch it."

"I didn't ask you to," she said, dodging out of his reach even as he tried to catch her and wipe his fingers.

"C'mere," he said, grabbing her and rubbing his hands all over the front of the hoodie.

"Hugo, _stop it_," she shrieked, smacking his hands away. She tilted her wand at herself and muttered, "_Scourgify_," as Hugo waggled his fingers at her with a grin. She scrunched her nose at him and shoved him toward the door.

"Go catch us a taxi or stand guard or something!"

"A taxi? For what? Where are we going?" he asked as he opened the door.

"St. Mungo's."

Hugo raised his eyebrows at her. "Does Al know we're going to see him?"

"Did you tell him we were coming?"

"No?"

"Then what do you think, idiot?"

"Shut up, you prat, how was I supposed to know?"

"Because, you dolt, neither of us can perform a half decent healing spell for our lives' worth."

"I'll bet I can do one better than you."

"Codswallop."

"Bet you ten galleons."

"Off with you," she said, flicking her wand toward him. He laughed and ducked behind the door. She chuckled and stuffed her wand in the small vertical pocket Hugo had gotten Hermione to stitch at the base of the hood. She turned back to call Scorpius, but paused with the words on the tip of her tongue.

He was sitting on the arm of the sofa, leaning with his elbows on his knees, and he had the most tender of smiles on his face that she'd ever seen. When he saw her turn to him, he got up and walked toward her, tugging at his ponytail. He came to stand beside her with his hands in his pockets and looked down at her with eyes as clear as a perfectly brewed cauldron of Veritaserum. Her breath caught when he smiled at her, the corner of his eyes crinkling. She felt her chest tightening and for some reason her eyes felt unusually moist.

The smile vanished from his face and was replaced by a look of concern, and she felt like she'd lost something too precious to name. She shook her head and laughed dryly, as she stared up at him.

"Rose?"

Even his voice was soft and gentle, not at all like it had been when he had looked over his shoulder at her as she tended the wounds on his back.

"You are a horrible, horrible man, Scorpius," she whispered and his brows furrowed, as he stared at her in confusion. She shook her head and sniffed.

"It's not fair that you can read me like an open book and for the life of me, I couldn't guess what you were thinking."

A strange emotion flickered in Scorpius's eyes and he leaned down toward her. "Can you guess what I'm thinking now?"

"That I'm an idiot for getting carried away about useless things," she said matter-of-factly, her voice sounding thick and unnatural.

He smiled at her in the same way he would when she passed him in the hallways of Hogwarts… right before he turned away and pretended she wasn't there.

"That was quick," Scorpius told Hugo – who had just poked his head in. Hugo nodded and Scorpius made his way toward the door without looking at Rose.

She stood there staring at her feet, suddenly exhausted and feeling the intense desire to curl up into a ball and weep.

"Rose?"

She cleared her throat and blinked rapidly before looking up at his expectant face. He motioned outside and asked, "Coming?"

And she wanted to laugh at herself again for thinking seventeen-year-old Scorpius was the same as twenty-five-year old Scorpius. She smiled and nodded, jogging toward the door. Maybe if she finally accepted the fact that the Scorpius she knew – or rather, didn't know – had grown into the man before her, she may have a chance at figuring him out yet.

He gave her a bemused smile and asked with a voice laced with laughter, "What are you looking so pleased with yourself, for?"

"Oh, you'll see."

* * *

**A/n: This chapter kinda put me off [mostly because I've been procrastinating about posting it for the past two days] and I'm not in the mood to say much, so anything you want to ask, leave it in your review and I shall answer! :D**

**Love~**


	7. Clueless

**A/n: Before you start reading this chapter, I want to ask you to pay very careful attention to anything related to Albus from henceforth. Especially certain details that pique your curiosity. I won't say why, of course, only that it would make everything that occurs much easier to understand. Oh and light swearing in this chapter.**

**Thank you for all the love!**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Clueless**

* * *

"Do you ever _listen_ when someone's talking to you?"

Rose rolled her eyes at Albus without looking at him. "Scorpius said he could do it, so I didn't think there would be a problem."

Albus groaned and rolled his neck. "This again? Rose, how many years has it been?"

She finally looked at him and frowned. "What?"

He gave her a patient, yet annoyed look. Something – it seemed – only Albus could manage to do simultaneously. "How many years have you known each other?"

Rose shrugged a shoulder, knowing it was more likely a rhetorical question. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"That has _everything_ to do with everything!"

Rose eyed her cousin wearily and shook her head. "You're making less and less sense even as this conversation progresses."

Albus laid his hands palm down on the tabletop and leaned his weight on it like he needed support to keep himself upright. He shook his bowed head and muttered, "I swear to Merlin, you geniuses are the least aware of everything happening around you."

He picked up his wand and strode off to where Scorpius was sitting with his back to Hugo – who was undoing the blond's bandages. Rose stared after Albus, her frown still in place. Sometimes Albus said things that seemed to hold a very deep meaning, but she couldn't make head or tail of it for the life of her.

Albus stared at his friend's back for a whole minute before saying, "Ever thought about vanishing those scars?"

The very air in the small room seemed to instantly freeze, and Albus looked from Hugo to Rose and back to Scorpius's head with a look of confusion on his face. "What? Did I just step on a landmine?"

_So much for us geniuses being clueless_.

Rose sighed and walked up to stand close to Scorpius. She tried not to notice the way he was clutching his hands together so hard that his biceps were bulging. She unconsciously stepped forward, suddenly feeling like a mother protecting a vulnerable child.

"Al, why don't you just take a look at those gashes and make sure the remnants of the protective spells didn't get into them?"

She gave Albus a pointed look and the latter shrugged, motioning to Scorpius's back. "Since they aren't very deep, I don't think there's much danger from the spells having gotten mixed in his bloodstream, but I'd like to check all the same. You said this happened about an hour or so ago?" he asked Rose, as he raised his arms and began muttering incantations under his breath.

She nodded and realizing he wasn't looking at her, said, "Yeah."

"Hugo, can you come with me?" Albus asked, as he placed a small vial of some potion in Scorpius's palm and gestured for him to drink it.

Hugo looked up from where he was fiddling with his wand and asked, "What? Me? Why?"

Albus raised his eyebrows at the younger male. "Because I said so. It might have sounded like I was asking, but I was really only being polite."

Hugo frowned but didn't argue. Albus seemed to have gotten much better at convincing people to do as he wanted ever since becoming a healer. Must be the quirks of the job, Rose thought. The Potter looked at Rose over his shoulder and tilted his head to the side, motioning for her to follow him. Curious, she followed.

"Did he tell you anything about them?"

"Them? You mean the scars?"

Albus nodded, eyeing Scorpius's broad back with a thoughtful scowl on his face - as though he was having trouble recollecting something. Rose touched his arm to get his attention back. "Why? Are they bad? They look pretty old, though."

"They only seem that way because whoever sewed them magically shut wasn't very proficient with healing magic. Those scars are the end result of a very hurried or a very badly performed combination of healing spells. Those scars can't be older than a decade, and considering a wizard's life span, that's hardly long enough."

Rose was about to ask how Albus could tell so much from just a glance at them, but she knew he'd spent years studying healing magic even before he actually got his license. Albus looked back at her and his emerald eyes were dark and brooding.

"I want you to see if you can convince him to talk to you about them. There's no rush. Even badly performed healing spells still do their basic job, but I want to make sure there are no lingering effects like the spells from your wards."

"Oi, are you going to just stand there chatting, or can we actually go," Hugo called irritatedly from near the door and Albus nodded at Rose. She grabbed his arm and shook her head hurriedly.

"Why do you think he'd tell me something like that? He didn't even seem to want me standing close to his scars or touching them, when I tried to bandage his wounds, so what makes you think he would confide in me about something so important?"

Albus actually looked more agitated than Rose had seen him in a long time. He came close to her and hissed, "Rose, you are a fucking genius, for Merlin's sake, figure it out!"

She heard him mutter a rather loud, 'For fuck's sake,' as he strode toward Hugo, his shoulders tight with anger and a menacing aura beginning to form around him. Hugo's eyes widened and he threw Rose a look that demanded what the hell she'd said to make him so mad. She sighed and Hugo hurried after Albus. Everyone knew that despite all the Weasleys' flaring tempers, it was the scariest when a Potter was seriously pissed off.

Unnerved, she walked back to where Scorpius was still sitting hunched over and pulled another stool to the one he was sitting on. She watched him bounce his knee for a few moments before placing her hand on it to still the agitated movement. He snapped his head up at her, as though demanding why she thought she could interrupt his brooding, but she shot him a smile and his anxiety seemed to dissipate ever so slightly.

He sighed and his shoulders relaxed. She suddenly noticed that he was buffer than she remembered, his muscles rippling under his skin as he flexed his arms. He didn't look muscular or meaty, like those body builders did; his physique was still slim and lean, just… more taut and firm.

"Enjoying the view, Miss Weasley?"

She jerked her eyes towards his, her face flushing as she spluttered and tried to cover her embarrassment at being caught red-handed while she stared at him. "I-It's not—I was just—"

Scorpius chuckled and she found herself relaxing slightly as he grinned at her. "There's nothing wrong in admiring something eye-catching," he said teasingly and she could feel her flush etch itself into her cheeks and neck and remain there as he smirked at her.

"I was not staring," she snapped adamantly, although she knew that they both knew that was a pointless attempt at a lie.

"Oh really?" he said and sat back. "My mistake then."

She glowered at the way his eyes twinkled. Bloody nuisance of a man. Did he go to Peru to do research, or so he could come back looking like someone had chiseled him out from marble? She cleared her throat, making to say something, but he suddenly leaned forward, surprising her – once again – into silence.

"Wh-What," she gasped, as he stared at her as though he was trying to figure out if she was real or a figment of his imagination. He hummed lowly and gave her a lop-sided grin, even as his eyes began drooping shut.

"Oh no," she said, as he began swaying on the stool. "No no no no no."

She stood up and tried to steady him, but he simply placed his forehead against her stomach and nuzzled against her. She felt her panic rising along with the flush that she had just started to get over.

"Scorpius," she groaned, as she tried to push him back into a sitting position. His lips were parted and he was looking at her through his lashes and she felt her resolve fade away. She let him fall back against her and tensed when she felt his arms creep around her waist. She cleared her throat just to keep her wavering thoughts in place, and left her hands on his shoulders.

She was debating on whether to try to wrestle out of his surprisingly tight grip, when the door opened, and in came Albus and Hugo, their arms laden with random objects that were probably medical in nature. Albus didn't even pause when he saw them and turned to dump the contents in his arms on a pre-spelled Cushioning charm.

Hugo, on the other hand, stopped abruptly at the door and goggled at his sister; who was standing with Scorpius's arms around her and hugging her like you would something warm and cuddly. She turned desperate wide eyes to Albus – who only chuckled – and made his way toward her with an amused smile playing on his face. She could recognize that smile from even a mile away.

"You set this up!" she screeched, and Albus winced at the volume of her voice.

"And of course you didn't even see it coming. Tell me I'm a genius," he replied, as he came to stand behind Scorpius and placed his hands in the pockets of his robes. Rose's jaw dropped.

"Albus Severus, stop this right now and get him off of me!"

"Why? He seems to like it there and I'm sure, below that extremely scandalized expression, you do too."

She just stared back at her cousin slack-jawed, completely speechless at his tasteless prank. Albus twisted his head around, a hand to his chin, as he said, "Did I just render the one and only Rose Weasley speechless? Give the man an award, I say!"

"Al."

Rose turned her gaze to her brother's pale face and thanked Merlin that Hugo's dislike for Scorpius would at least come in handy in a situation like this.

"Yes?" Albus asked, thoroughly unfazed by the other's intimidating glare.

"What the hell did you do?"

Albus was the perfect picture of innocence as he looked between the two siblings and then pointing to Scorpius, said, "What, this? Oh come now, you don't think I actually drugged him or something, did you?"

When he got matching glares from the siblings that said that was exactly what they thought, Albus chuckled and picked Scorpius's ponytail up, turning it around in his palm. "I only cast a relaxing spell on him, that's all. It's something like the Calming Draught, but can be administered verbally, as a spell, and its effects don't send the recipients into a complete state of relaxation, but rather gives them the feeling of floating on a cloud and having the time of their life. That, and I _did _give him a pint of diluted Calming Draught, simply because he seemed too uptight. You should have seen the look on the other healers' faces when I performed it on the patients that refused to drink any potions, and it had a much better result than any Calming Draught could, because the recipients are far more compliant afterward."

"You _created _it?"

"Isn't that _illegal_?"

Albus looked between Rose and Hugo with the same look of extreme amusement. Rose was starting to feel annoyance replace her previous fluster and embarrassment. "You're enjoying this way too much, Albus."

"I cannot lie," Albus replied with a little bow and Hugo all but growled beside Rose.

"Enough of this nonsense. I don't know _how_ the Ministry is letting you get away with recreating the likes of the Imperius Curse, but I won't stand for it. Take it off of him immediately!"

Albus turned to look at the length of Scorpius's blond hair in his hand and said in a musing voice, "My dear fellow, the Imperius Curse places the other person under a spell so strong, that it breaks their power of will and gives the caster the ability to manipulate them in any way they so please. Much like a puppet-master controlling his puppet with strings."

He paused, as though trying to build up on the suspense for whatever he was going to say next.

"But the spell I created is nothing of that sort. It just puts the recipient in a sort of daze and lets them fully access their happy place."

"Their _happy place_?" Hugo asked with an air of disdain and Albus's eyes seemed to sharpen ever so slightly.

"Yes, their happy place. It's sort of similar to the feeling of being high. The person voluntarily does whatever he wants to do, free from any restriction others or he/she has placed on themselves."

Albus's words seemed to strike a blow straight to Rose's stomach, and she asked in a strangled voice, "Allows them to do whatever they want to do?"

Albus nodded, clasping his hands behind his back and swaying back and forth on the balls of his feet. "It's sort of like removing any constraint; social, physical, ethical or anything else, and allows the person to voice his innermost desires and thoughts. It's never been performed on anybody but patients, though, and only ones that really seem to need it. Like, for instance, a patient who is dying but is too scared to confess his life-long undying love to the woman who was somebody else's wife. It lets them leave us without any regrets, see?"

Rose, being the person she was and having the job she did, found several flaws in the very concept the spell was based on, and she vowed to tell her cousin exactly what she thought of it - as soon as he removed both the effect of the spell and Scorpius from her. When she demanded the same, Albus simply shot her a million-galleon smile and said,

"The best part about this spell is that the person it's been cast on can choose to undo the effects of it on them when-so-ever they may please."

Another blow to her stomach. She could literally hear Hugo's teeth grinding against each other beside her, as her brother stared down at Scorpius like all he wanted to do was break his arms off and whisk Rose away so he could cleanse her of his evilness. And, although she would rather die than admit it, Albus's words had caused more than just the feeling of being struck in the gut. There was a seemingly innocuous fluttering in the pit of her stomach that seemed to have something to do with the shortness of her breath and warmth in her cheeks.

"If you tried to convince him gently, he should listen," Albus told her softly and she stared down at Scorpius's blond head. She swallowed and nodded, feeling the weight of Hugo's intense gaze on her.

"Scorpius," she said slowly as she moved her hands from his shoulders to place them against the sides of his face; shocked by how gentle and soothing her voice had come out sounding. Hugo stiffened beside her.

"Scorpius," she said again and he stirred, as though being pulled out of a dream. He slowly raised his head and squinted up at Rose, his face full of confusion.

"Why," he rasped and cleared his throat. "What," he said, pulling back to finally sit straight on the stool. Rose belatedly realized his arms were still around her and for some reason, she didn't seem to want to remind him of that yet. Let him figure it out on his own.

"What," he said again, his eyes glancing around. He reminded her of a lost puppy who had run too far and abruptly stopped to find himself in a completely unknown place. He was starting to panic.

"Shh," Rose said gently, as the hair on the back of Scorpius's neck rose and his eyes widened like he'd suddenly realized he must have done something terrible.

"Rose?" he asked, and his voice was rough from the temporary disuse. Her insides clenched at the sound of it.

"Yes, I'm here. It's me."

He shook his head slightly, gazing up at her with what she could only describe as awe. "What did you do?" he breathed, and she looked down at him dumbly.

"Nothing," she said blankly, but he laughed airily and said,

"No, you definitely did something. I suddenly feel so much lighter, as though a heavy burden was lifted off my shoulders."

His laughter grew into a chuckle as he saw the expression on her face. "I know it sounds corny, but that's the only description that seems adept to describe what I feel at the moment."

"Oh," Rose said, because her mind was too fuzzy to think of anything clever to say. Behind Scorpius, Albus had turned his face away and his shoulders shook with suppressed laughter.

Hugo made an enraged sound that was half way between a whine and a growl and both Rose and Scorpius snapped wide-eyes toward him. His face had gone red and he looked exactly like their dad did when he was furious about something.

"I don't understand you," he spat at Rose and she flinched from the power of his voice. Hugo's eyes flickered toward Scorpius, but instantly came back and fixed themselves on Rose again.

"When you figure out exactly what it is that you want, come and talk to me."

And so saying, he spun on his heel and stormed out, leaving Rose and Scorpius to stare after him with thoroughly baffled expressions on their faces.

"Is it just me," Scorpius murmured, and Rose looked back at him. He frowned at the door. "Or am I really missing something very important here?"

Rose sighed. She was exhausted as it was, and her brain seemed to have decided that it needed to take a break just then; because when he looked up with wide-eyes that were like quicksilver and said, "And I don't remotely remember you voluntarily being so close with me before," she didn't know what he was talking about, until he tilted his head and grazed his mouth against her palm - which was still caressing his face - his eyes fixed on her.

She swallowed thickly and jerked her hands away. She had been so preoccupied by the fact that he had his arms around her, that she seemed to have forgotten to register that her own hands were still holding his face.

"Not that I'm complaining," he began, and she shivered as his voice dropped a notch, "it's not always that I can have Rose Weasley caressing my face."

She wanted to yell at him that what she had been doing wasn't remotely close to _caressing_, but she knew it was a lost cause, because he had that look in his eyes that Rose recognized from whenever he had locked onto something; and nothing she said or did would make him think otherwise. She was breathing through her mouth, because her nostrils seemed incapable of giving her lungs the air they needed, and when Albus guffawed loudly, doubling over and literally trembling from fits of laughter, she jumped back and out of Scorpius's arms.

She hoped her mild disappointment at not feeling his firm forearms pressed against the curve of her body didn't show on her face, because she was dispelling the venomous thought as soon as it surfaced. She was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to notice that he seemed to feel the same way, before the emotion flickered away from his face.

Albus clapped a hand on Scorpius's shoulder as he steadied himself and wiped tears from his eyes. He shook his head and said, "Oh Merlin, this turned out to be so much more fun than I had imagined, when the idea first came to me."

Scorpius turned curious eyes to his best mate and Albus simply grinned down at the blond, clapping him on the shoulder again.

"I swear, for a pair of geniuses, you both are like two birds dancing around each other and fleeing the second they sense danger."

Rose stiffened and shot him an affronted look before saying, "I think your patient is in good hands, so good day," and striding away as gracefully as she could in an oversized hoodie and tights. She could swear she heard Albus's ringing laughter follow her till the entrance of St. Mungo's.

Cofounded men and their bloody ability to understand things she was utterly clueless about.

* * *

**A/n: And there you have it! I find Rose's cluelessness really adorable, to be honest, and I just had to get Al to play the role of match-maker.**

**Thoughts?**


	8. Unresolved Feelings

**Chapter 8**

**Unresolved Feelings**

* * *

"Can't you at least _pretend_ to _listen_, even if you're blatantly ignoring me?"

When Scorpius raised a finger and continued to scribble on the parchment in front of him, Rose marched up to the table and snatching the parchment, ripped it to shreds and threw it behind her. Scorpius watched the pieces flutter to the floor with his mouth open and then turned to her with disbelieving eyes.

"What did you do that for?"

"You very well know what I did that for," Rose snapped, crossing her arms and looking down her nose at him – though she had to tilt her head farther back than usual, considering he was over a head taller than she was. That usually seemed to do the trick when she wanted to intimidate the people who worked for her, but sometimes she forgot that Scorpius couldn't be classified under the general category of 'people who worked for her'.

Scorpius made a swooping gesture with his arm, as though indicating that he was all hers and she could do whatever she wanted now that she had ripped up his work. Rose frowned at him.

"Don't give me cheek," she warned, coming up behind his desk and standing right in front of him. Even in her six-inch shoes, she barely came up to his shoulder and it frustrated her to no end that she couldn't be half as intimidating as she wanted to be when she looked like a child in his eyes.

"Yes ma'am," Scorpius said somewhat tiredly and ducked his head. He leaned back against the table as though he could sense her discomfort at being shorter than him, and was instantly on eye level with her. She didn't want to think that he did that just to make her feel better. It was unnecessary thoughts like that that had led to her predicament in the first place.

"It's been a month already since you got back from Peru, and you have made absolutely no signs of vacating our temporary housing facilities."

He blinked at her. "That's why you're so pissed?"

Rose bit her tongue and focused on keeping her face in the exact same expression of disapproval. He shrugged nonchalantly and had the gall to ask, "Why is it such a problem?"

She slammed her hand on his desk and that seemed to tell him that she was angrier than she let on, because he frowned at her as she fumed at him. "_Why _is it such a problem, you ask? Because if I just _let_ a Division Head occupy half the housing facility all to himself, then what the hell am I supposed to tell both the people who work for me and the ones I work for?"

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "The higher-ups have voiced displeasure at my occupying the rooming house?"

"It is not a _rooming house_, Scorpius, it is a temporary housing facility for our scientists so they don't blow the place up," she hissed, poking him in the chest. His expression was neutral – like it always was – and didn't betray anything he was feeling. But from the way his eyes were slowly turning from silver to grey, she could tell that he wasn't liking how she was behaving with him. Very good then. It was about time he started treating her like his superior.

"So they haven't as yet confronted you on said problem?"

"The only confronting that is going to happen ends now. You will move out of there tonight. Go home, Scorpius. See your parents, clean out your flat, buy new furniture; I don't care! But you will _not_ be using the Ministry's facilities for your own personal use any longer. Have I made myself clear?"

Scorpius's eyes were so dark, they reminded her of thunderclouds before a raging storm.

"Are you really so afraid of them, Rose?" he asked simply, giving her a searching look.

"Yes I am," she replied, her voice a strained whisper, "so please move out before they come asking about a rumour they heard regarding a Division Head in the Department for Magical Research and Experimentation misusing the Ministerial facilities."

He tilted his head to the side, the same searching look in his eyes, and just as she started thinking he would say no, he nodded his head and turning away from her, stood up to go collect the parchment she had torn. She sighed and dropped her gaze to the floor. At least the problem had been resolved without her screaming at him and then storming out on him – as had been their routine off late.

She barely even registered the walk to her office and was mildly startled when she looked up to see Renée giving her a concerned look.

"Rose? Is everything alright?"

She waved her hand distractedly and said, "Yeah, everything is going to be fine."

"Going to be?"

Rose flopped onto her chair and placed her face in her hands, massaging the headache that had started to develop in her temples. "Ren, not now, OK? I'm exhausted and I really am in no mood to play mind games."

Renée nodded and came up to her desk and placed her hand on it. She opened her mouth and looked like she wanted to say something, but from the look Rose was giving her, she hesitated and an unknown emotion flickered in her eyes before she asked softly,

"When was the last time you went home and slept in your own bed?"

Rose frowned and sighed. When _was_ the last time she went home and slept in her own bed? Probably the time when she had locked herself out and Scorpius had come to help her and had gotten injured in the process. After the maddening trip to see Albus, when she had once again stormed out, she had returned the next day to find that she was swamped with work, making it impossible for her to leave.

And everything after that had just been an endless cycle of mishaps, explosions, misplaced paper work, lost equipment, unrecorded findings and last but not the least, her relationship with Scorpius – or lack thereof.

After that particular day, she had made it a point to steer clear of him, and it had been extremely easy, considering how busy the two of them had been. She had bumped into him a couple of times, but either, or both of them were always accompanied by someone else, sparing them from any awkward situations. One time she'd fallen asleep at her desk and woken up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. She would've thought Renée had made it for her out of the kindness of her heart, but she knew all too well that all the spoilt heiress knew was to spell instant coffee into her cup, leaving only one possibility. One she refused to encourage.

There were a few times when she had to go seen him for specific things that only he could handle, and it would've been stupid to drag someone along just because she didn't want to be in a room alone with him, but he had either been unnecessarily polite, as he had been ever since he got back, or ignored her in favour of whatever it was he had been doing before she had entered the room. It wasn't like she was being unreasonable or anything; it was just that no matter how stressed out or overworked he was, he couldn't just ignore her, his boss, when she had come all the way just to talk to him. That was absolutely unacceptable.

And so she would lose her temper and she would see that he was doing all he could not to lose his, only because she was his superior – despite everything – and it was easier if only one of them was doing the shouting. It was starting to remind her of the six months before he had left to Peru, when she kept insisting he do things just because he could, and he would do them only because he wouldn't have to do it for a long time after and she would get off his back faster that way. At least, that was her assumption.

She had fallen asleep at her desk again without realizing it and she jerked awake for some reason, looking around, dazed and disoriented, her body feeling hotter than normal. Her eyes fell on the mug of rich smelling coffee on her desk, and then to the hand that was still holding it. She slowly looked up into wide, startlingly silver eyes, and Scorpius immediately took a step back and said hurriedly, "Renée asked me to give it to you because she had some work to do and I was passing by your office anyway so…"

She breathed deeply, stretched, and tilting her head, gave him a sweet, sleepy smile. "You don't have to lie because I'll get angry," she slurred, sleep clinging to her words, "because I think it's really sweet. Thank you, Scorpius."

His expression shifted to a sort of embarrassed one that she thought was very cute in her sleep-filled daze, and he leaned forward to place the coaster on top of the mug so it didn't cool. A very silly, Muggle thing to do, considering she could just reheat the coffee with a wordless spell. She giggled at that and he shot her an amused look.

"Have you eaten anything lately, Miss Weasley?"

"Mm I think I ate a croissant this morning."

Scorpius's eyebrows shot up into his hairline and he said, "That's barely anything."

Rose shrugged and slumped back in her chair, smacking her lips. "Too busy. No time."

"Have you slept at all?"

"Just woke up."

"No," Scorpius said, as though he was talking to a child, "not napped. Have you actually slept for more than three quarters of an hour?"

Rose tilted her head and tapped her chin at the question and then shrugging her shoulder, grinned at him and went "Nope!"

Scorpius stared at her, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He shook his head. "Looks like Renée isn't the only one who gets high on coffee. How much have you had?"

Rose stuck her lower lip at him and reached for her mug, but Scorpius beat her to it. He held it just out of reach and asked again, "How much coffee have you had, Rose?"

Rose moaned and laid her head down on her arm as she stretched across her desk. She tried to count the number of mugs she had drunk and finding it tedious, mumbled, "A lot."

"Alright, that's enough," he said, magicking the mug into nothing and walking around the desk to her.

"That was my favorite mug!" she protested, as he pulled her to her feet. He eyed her shoes.

"Can you walk in those?"

"If I step on you with them, you'll have a hole in your toes," she giggled, suddenly feeling light-headed, his warm palms feeling unbearably cold against her heated skin. He smiled down at her.

"Oh, yeah? Well, why don't I help you out of them, then. We don't want you stepping on yourself by accident and making a hole in your own toes, now, do we?"

Rose puckered her lips as she stepped out of her shoes. Scorpius waved his wand and they disappeared. She suddenly swayed, dizzy. He caught her easily and let her lean against him for support. She was seeing in twos for some reason. Maybe it was the coffee? Oh wait, she didn't drink any. Maybe she needed coffee.

"Rose?"

His voice sounded far away. Like he was at the end of a tunnel. She smiled at the thought. She liked tunnels. They were fun.

"Merlin—you're burning up!"

Was that why she was feeling dizzy? And her legs felt like jelly?

She suddenly jerked to the side and the abrupt movement caused her to double over and vomit all over her feet. She stood there, bent at her waist, trying to catch her breath, as Scorpius stroked her back in a soothing motion. She collapsed to the floor, too exhausted to even stand and he cleaned her up with a Scouring spell. She sighed as she leaned her head against his shoulder. She was feeling extremely hot, like she had been sitting in a sauna for too long. She felt something cool press against her forehead and she groaned in relief. That felt good.

"Alright Rose, I'm going to have to carry you to the housing quarters."

She had just enough energy to say "No!"

She could feel his frown even though she couldn't see it. "Rose, there's no other way—"

She shook her head. She wasn't going to stay there. Not where all the others stayed. Someone might catch a bug from her.

"Home," she mumbled, so incoherently that Scorpius barely caught it.

"You want me to take you home?"

She nodded slightly. He sighed. "Rose, that's not as easy as you make it sound. Do you really want me to carry you down the elevators and through the Ministry?"

"'cle Harry," she said, her lips barely moving. She couldn't even feel her limbs anymore. She was so tired. All she wanted to do was sleep. In a proper bed. At home.

There was some muffled scuffling as Scorpius looked for something and then the sound of scratching as he wrote something down. She felt him move against her and she wasn't sure what he was doing, and was frankly too tired to find out.

"Hey," he said softly in her ear and she titled her chin up in response. "Is it a bad time to turn the glass to wood? People are starting to stare."

She wanted to tell him that the Maintenance Department wouldn't be too happy if he did that, but she simply nodded once instead, even that simple movement draining her of energy. He said OK and she felt him flex his arm and heard him mumble a spell. There was some shuffling behind her and she cracked an eye barely open to see that the glass partition had changed to wood.

"Thanks," she rasped and suddenly felt a wave of cold, as she pulled herself into a tighter ball and huddled closer to him. He Conjured a coat or a blanket or something for her and wrapped it around her. She tried to move her head but found that it was uncomfortable for some reason. She heard him chuckle and then felt her hair fall down her face and shoulders as he undid her bun.

"I don't know why you tie it up, when you look so beautiful with it down."

She barely heard him over the gushing sound in her ears, and she probably had imagined him complimenting her anyway, her fever causing her to become delirious. She sighed and settled against his warm chest, cuddling into the blanket and letting herself drift off towards well-deserved nothingness.

* * *

When she woke up this time, it was to the sound of voices. She shifted her position and winced when her neck cracked. How long had she been asleep? Once she could sit up without feeling the extreme need to vomit, she closed her eyes and tried to focus on the sounds coming from the other side of her closed bedroom door. It sounded like three or four voices, most of which she immediately recognized.

One was her mother's, she thought with a groan. The one that was talking the most definitely belonged to Albus. The deeper one was probably Harry and the last one that seemed to be conversing with Albus – she sat up with a jolt – belonged to Scorpius. He was in her house? Why?

She looked around and frowned. What day was it? How did she get home? The last thing she remembered was trying to sort out some papers. Her stomach growled rather insistently and she pressed a palm against it. She was starving. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten a proper meal. She smacked her lips and grimaced at the foul taste in her mouth and how parched it was. She fumbled around and finding her wand, wordlessly Conjured a glass of water. She downed it in three gulps and spelled more water into the glass, her thirst seemingly incurable with a single glass.

After several glasses of water, she sat back with a sigh and closed her eyes. Now she wanted to use the toilet but she felt like she would faint if she moved. She was trying to concentrate on some random thought and not feel nauseous, so she almost missed the sound of the door being opened. She cracked her eyes open to see Albus step in with a bowl filled with steaming soup. Her mouth started to water even as her eyes hungrily followed the bowl of soup till it was placed next to her.

Albus sat down and placed one hand against her forehead and the other against his. After a moment, he nodded and smiled at her. "Your fever's finally gone down, thank goodness. You almost gave us all a heart attack."

"How long have I been asleep?"

Albus shrugged and seemed like he was debating whether to tell her the truth or not. Finally deciding on the former with some difficulty, he said, "Almost two whole days."

She tensed at that, her mind already running horrific scenarios of all the undone work piling up on her desk. Albus snapped his fingers in front of his face and said, "I know what you're thinking, and there's absolutely nothing to worry about because Scorpius has taken care of everything that needed immediate attention."

Rose simply looked at him, not having finished her calculations of exactly how many extra hours she would have to put in in order to get through all the work. She sighed and leaned her head back tiredly. Maybe she didn't have too much to worry about if Scorpius had taken care of all the important things…

"Well, I'm not ill or anything, right?" she asked expectantly and he eyed her for a moment before shaking his head. She nodded to herself. "That's that, then. Now that I'm well-rested, I'll have something to eat and then—"

"Absolutely not."

"I'm sorry?" she raised her eyebrows at Albus and he pursed his lips at her.

"Rosie, you were unconscious for almost a whole day. You've barely eaten anything half decent in the past week, you've barely let your body recuperate for all the energy it has been burning and you overworked yourself to the extent that you could no longer stand up on your own two feet! If you think you can just up and get back to work the moment you wake up, well, I'm sorry to say that you are mental."

Rose frowned. "I can't not work for so long, Al. they need me—"

"Do you not trust your Division Heads enough to manage three to four days without you? Besides, you're the boss, why do you have to do everything?"

Rose opened her mouth to retort, but finding that there was nothing she could say to refute his argument, she shut her mouth and chose to glower at him instead. Albus sighed and shook his head.

"Love, I know you think you need to single-handedly handle everything and maybe sometimes you do, but that doesn't mean you should completely ignore your own health to do so. Even Renée thought you were working too hard."

Rose raised her eyebrows. Renée even telling someone that Rose worked too hard was something close to a miracle, considering how much the brunette loved to tell Rose to stop faffing around and do her job. She finally nodded reluctantly, knowing Albus wouldn't back down no matter what she said. He smiled at her.

"Here, have some soup while I go tell everyone you're finally awake."

"Everyone?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously. His eyes glittered.

"Everyone."

She groaned when he shut the door behind her with that vague answer but was immediately distracted by the savoury smell of the soup in front of her and she hungrily dug in, her stomach's persistent demand for food far more persuading than her curiosity to know exactly who all were outside her door.

Her soup was over all too soon and she stared sadly into her empty bowl, wondering if someone would come running if she screamed. But just as the thought crossed her mind, she noticed that the bowl was steadily, but surely, refilling itself and she could barely withhold herself as she waited for the thick, swirling semi-liquid to reach the brim. Not bothered to use the soupspoon, she raised the bowl to her mouth and downed the entire thing without pausing once – not even for air.

She finally put it down and sighed in satisfaction. She had almost forgotten how good her mother's broth soup was. There was a slight chuckle from the door, and she looked up to see a smiling Scorpius step in and shut the door behind him.

* * *

**A/n: Late update, I know, and I'm sorry but I have been completely swamped. This chapter is rather abrupt, because it ended up being too long and I had to split it into three parts. So yes, it continues in the next two chapters.**

**Also, before y'all start getting mad at Rose for being so completely irrational and bipolar, she actually _does _overwork herself and yeah, anyway, let me know what you think!**

**Cheers, lovelies.**


	9. Unresolved Feelings - II

**A/n: OK, yes, I know you would like to shoot me, and I am extremely sorry for such a late update, BUT BETTER LATE THAN NEVER RIGHT?! -laughs nervously-**

**Anyway, here's part 2 of 3.**

**Love~**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Unresolved Feelings – II**

* * *

Rose bit her tongue to keep herself from spluttering and glowered at Scorpius – who looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself at her expense.

"You _carried_ me?!"

"Well, you couldn't walk on your own, so…"

"People at work _saw_ you _carrying _me?!"

He raised his hand to his face and scratched his cheek as he cleared his throat, a telltale smile playing on his lips. If he was trying to be subtle about controlling his laughter, he wasn't doing a very good job at it.

"You don't have to look so scandalised, Miss Weasley. On your orders, I went to your uncle and he successfully got us out of the Ministry without any problems."

She frowned at him and chewed on her lower lip. His explanation had brought forth many questions that seemed to take precedence over how exactly they had managed to carry her out of the Ministry with no problems. She started with the most pressing matter.

"Have there been any unforeseen problems in the department during my absence?"

He made a face that said he didn't want to talk about that, but he answered anyway, considering that that had probably been the only excuse he could use to escape Rose's endless questioning. "None that I couldn't handle."

She regarded him for a moment and it probably looked to him like she was sizing him up, but really, she was too full to even think very clearly. She nodded finally and he gave her a searching look. He inclined his head and raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Do you not trust me enough to handle things while you're on a sick leave?"

His voice was soft and deep and his eyes were imploring and honest. She felt her chest squeeze ever so slightly. She chewed on the inside of her cheek to stop herself from grinning stupidly and said carefully, "I didn't say anything of that sort, did I?"

"No," he agreed, moving so he was facing her fully. He continued to stare at her with the same intensely earnest look and she suddenly shifted under her blankets, feeling uncomfortable under the intensity of his gaze.

"Rose," he all but murmured, leaning close to her as though he was examining her face. She leaned as far back into the headrest as she could without the wood cleaving into her bones.

"Yes?" she squeaked, her mouth suddenly parched. She was one hundred percent sure that he didn't realize how awkward and strange he was making her feel and was simply gazing at her like he was sifting through the thoughts in her brain, because that was probably exactly what he was doing.

"I don't know how you've been running the department these past five years," he began and she felt the mattress under her shift as he leaned even closer, his brows furrowing ever so slightly, "but you can trust that I will be able to do all the work that a Division Head is supposed to do, and more. So please don't categorise me under the general assumption that I am the same as that half-wit, Wernicks."

His eyes flashed and her breath caught. _Oh_. He was upset that she hadn't trusted him enough to let him take care of most of the work that was pretty much his to do in the first place, and instead, had chosen to overwork herself till she was sick. She shook her head slightly, finding it more and more difficult to breathe under his unnervingly straightforward gaze.

"That's not it," she said in a small voice and almost sighed in relief when he pulled back slightly and regarded her with raised eyebrows.

"No?"

"No." She shook her head insistently, not wanting him to find the need to once again resume his staring through her skull. "I suppose you're right. I probably just unconsciously thought I had to carry the burden myself without realising that I had someone to carry it for me. It was stupid to overwork myself till I passed out, and you're right, I should trust you to do the work given to you perfectly and without hesitation."

His eyes widened at that and regained its usual appearance of dancing silver and he gave her a dazzling smile that quite literally took her breath away. She had said something right after all.

"So, you trust me?"

The question was simple enough, but the way in which he had put it forth, soft and almost beseeching, she knew that he genuinely wanted her to trust him. And that was the cause for her dilemma. She could hear her jumbled thoughts racing round in her head even as she nodded and with a smile, said, "Yes. Yes, I do."

He smiled that innocent, genuine, wide-eyed smile that always confounded her, and stood up carefully, as though she was so fragile that he didn't want to jostle her. He picked the soup bowl up and gave her a swift bow.

"Now that I've heard you say that, my mind is free of worry and can be turned completely towards the tasks at hand."

He walked towards the door before she could get over his smile and get her brain working enough to think of something to say. Pulling the door open, he paused to look over his shoulder and said, "Thank you, Rose."

She moaned and placed her face in her hands as the door shut behind him and she realised her face was burning and her heart was pounding. Those smiles of his should be illegal. They were so rare as compared to his conceited smirks or his wily grins, and they took her completely by surprise and bulldozed her down before she even knew what hit her.

Renée's warning from the day Scorpius had returned, rang clearly in her mind and she groaned loudly. She couldn't help it that he caught her completely off guard and blew her off her feet with so much force that she would be tumbling down a mountain side and come to a stop at the bottom and still not know what hit her.

She had placed him under the same misunderstood perception when she had viewed him as the boy who teased and taunted her endlessly during their days in Hogwarts; so much so, that she had failed to realize that he had always been careful and responsible with everything that was placed under his care. He had been Head Boy, for Merlin's sake, and she still thought he only lived to make her life miserable.

_He must think I'm an idiot_, she thought, sighing morosely and shaking her head. He seemed to have a knack for endlessly confusing her.

Albus had been right about her unnecessarily overworking herself because she had been under the assumption that only she could do the work that came to her. And it wasn't that she didn't trust Scorpius – at least, she didn't consciously mistrust him – but it was just that she was so used to Wernicks not doing any work and the fact that Scorpius had been thousands of miles away and had almost nothing to do with what she was doing in those five years.

It also probably had more to do with the fact that they had barely worked together as Division Head and H.O.D before he had to leave. Even in the year and a half that they had worked together, he had been too busy organising the expedition and taking care of things related to it, while she handled everything else. So it wasn't very difficult to understand why she thought she had to do all the work. It would take her some time to realise that yes, things were definitely different from before and she could rely on Scorpius to handle almost everything if she wanted him to – especially seeing as he was more than willing to do it.

But even after she had started to accept the fact that he was no longer the young Malfoy who was always seen with a girl on each arm and got what he wanted by carelessly flaunting his charm; she was still not used to the fact that he was willing to work so hard for her – she, who had stolen the position that he had wanted, forcing him to work under her – or more likely, simply wasn't able to comprehend _why_ he was willing to go so far to gain her trust.

She rolled around her bed groaning and moaning and wallowing in self-pity and confusion till Albus poked his head into the room and laughed at her. She sat up with a scarlet face and pouted up at him as he handed her a small vial of some kind of lilac coloured potion. She swallowed it in one gulp and held it out for him to take. He chuckled and sat down on her bed, reaching out to pat her head. She smacked his hand away and sulked.

"Alright, what did he do now?"

"What did who do? I don't know what you're talking about," she declared defiantly, sticking her chin in the air. Albus rolled his eyes.

"Scorpius. He was the last one in here and you look even more confused and puzzled than when you just woke up and didn't know what was going on."

She sighed and pulled the ends of her hair to cover her face.

"Rosie," Albus urged.

She shook her head and mumbled into her hair, "He is so confusing! I don't understand what goes on in his head!"

"Well, obviously," her cousin supplied helpfully and she glared at him. He raised his hands in surrender and let her continue.

"He came in here and then demanded that I trust him and when I said I did, he had the same expression on his face like he did when they told him he was going to be Quidditch Captain."

Albus raised his eyebrows and looked at Rose with an unreadable expression.

"What?" she snapped irritatedly and he slowly shook his head, as though he was trying to calculate exactly how soft in the head she was. "Al!" she scolded and he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"You really don't know, do you?"

"Know what?" she demanded and Albus only continued like she hadn't spoken.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure he didn't realise it until our final year, either," he said to Rose's dresser, a thoughtful expression on his face. She made an annoyed sound and slapped his arm. He simply turned to her with a bemused smile and asked, "Why do you think he had the same expression as back then?"

She frowned. "Does that even matter? I was just making a comparison." He gave her a look that told her to answer the question. She shrugged, still not understanding what he wanted her to say.

"I don't know. He just looked happy, that's all."

"He was more than happy when we chose him as Captain of the Slytherin team. He was ecstatic."

"OK," she said slowly, wondering what in Merlin's name Albus was trying to tell her.

He made an impatient gesture and said, "You compared his expression now to that of when he was made Captain!"

"Yes?"

"Merlin, Rose, did you work yourself till your brain shut down?"

"Hey!" she yelled, affronted that he would say something like that.

Albus only gave her an endearing look and said, "You are being unnecessarily stupid right now."

Rose glowered at him. "Did you come in here simply to poke fun at me—"

"Rose," he snapped, rubbing his eyes, "you said his expressions were the same and I just said he was ecstatic back then. Did he look ecstatic just now?"

Rose frowned, thoroughly confused. "I don't know! I wouldn't say ecstatic—it was more like jubilant. Like when I got my Hogwarts letter and it had the Head Girl badge inside."

Albus was looking at her with an expression almost akin to wonder. He had a faint smile on his face and his emerald eyes shone with some incomprehensible emotion. He finally laughed breathily and leaning forward, placed a feather light kiss on her cheek. She suddenly jolted at the sense of déjâvù it brought. It reminded her of the time Scorpius had kissed her on the cheek. She felt herself flush and she looked away from Albus's gaze boring into her.

"Did you just remember something uncalled for?"

_Uncalled for_ was definitely what she would use to describe the unnecessary thought. "Go away," she whined, pulling the sheets over her head. Albus chuckled and patted her head through the sheets.

"Rosie, you need to be more honest with yourself or this is never going to end."

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Yes, I actually believe that you don't, which is why I shall leave now, but I want you to think about something first."

She eyed him from over the corner of her blanket and he tugged on her hair, his eyes twinkling.

"What exactly do you feel towards Scorpius?"

And then he was gone, leaving a completely bewildered Rose feeling even more perplexed than she had been before Albus had entered the room—which showed how much more he had served to confuse her.

* * *

She stood at the entrance to her office and stared around, taking in the same neat and tidy workspace she was accustomed to. She sighed and walked up to her desk, wondering what exactly she had expected to see when she had come back from her four-day long sick leave. She sat down on her chair and took a moment to remember the familiar feel of the leather. She thought it seemed fluffier for some reason, but maybe that was only because she had been away for so long. She shrugged and touched the bun she'd pinned on top of her head, suddenly remembering something completely unwarranted.

"_I don't know why you tie it up, when you look so beautiful with it down."_

She pursed her lips and frowned at her desk, debating whether to scold herself for conjuring hallucinations of her own, or to scold herself for remembering something that any other delirious person would probably have not even registered in their feverish state. She was still lost in thought when she unconsciously started pulling the pins out of her hair and let it down. She fluffed it and let it fall down her back as she turned to a memo she'd just noticed pinned to her favorite mug. She immediately pushed away the memory the mug brought up, unwilling to link everything she saw or did to Scorpius.

She read the memo while she still argued with herself inside her head and suddenly stopped short, rereading it again because she thought she'd misread it the first time.

'_Decided to get married. Meet me in Scorpius's office. –Renée'_

"What the bloody hell," she said under her breath, leaping out of her chair and all but sprinting out of her office. She almost ran into a pair of wizards wearing the Theoretical Division's overalls, but managed to dodge them just in time and still somehow continued in her brisk pace, till she reached Scorpius's office. She paused for a brief moment to stare at the silver lettering on the door that now read 'Scorpius Malfoy, Practical Division Head, Department for Research and Experimentation' in bold letters. And then she pushed the door open and strode in, her heart racing wildly.

Renée looked up from where she was perched on the far window, a teacup in her hand. Rose's first instinct was to run to her and hug her before demanding what kind of joke she was playing on her, but instead, her eyes flickered to the desk opposite the window and her eyes locked with curious silver ones as Scorpius sipped from a mug, his hand hovering over a sheaf of parchment he had been signing.

"Rose!" Renée's voice interrupted whatever comment Rose's mind was going to come up with for Scorpius's disheveled appearance, so she snapped her head towards her friend and strode up to her with a smile as Renée jumped off the ledge and hugged Rose warmly.

"You look so much better well-rested," she said, smiling kindly at Rose, and the latter suddenly felt a surge of affection for the brunette. Renée then stepped back and motioned to the man who had been standing off to the side with a polite smile on his face. He nodded and stepped forward with his hand extended.

He had well defined features and kind brown eyes that crinkled in the corners when he smiled. He was well built and tall – although not as tall as Scorpius, her mind supplied helpfully – but several inches taller than Renée. He was ruggedly handsome and had a homely aura surrounding him even as she shook his hand. Something about him rang a bell in the back of her mind, but she wasn't sure what it was.

"You must not recognise me," he said in a gentle, soothing voice that had an underlying hint of an accent she couldn't place. She inclined her head, her brain running haywire trying to place him. Where had she seen him…

"My name is Cole Wardford, of Wardford estate. We met several years ago at the charity event Renée's parents hosted."

Rose's eyes widened in recognition and she nodded. "Ah, yes! I remember now! You're the oldest son of the Wardfords and donated quite a large sum of money towards our expedition to Peru."

Cole's eyes twinkled and he bowed ever so slightly. "That would be me, yes, although I would prefer not being remembered as the man who bought his way into your list of acquaintances," he said ever so graciously, making Rose flush.

"Of course not."

He laughed good-naturedly and stepped back to let a bouncing Renée come forward and grasp Rose's hands. "Did you get my memo?" she asked eagerly, the happiness on her face washing away Rose's hopes that it had been a joke. She felt her stomach clench uncomfortably even as Renée continued on with her good news.

"Cole and I have been quite good friends, as you know, and we've been corresponding with each other on a regular basis. When he visited England recently, he sought me out and of course I agreed to meet with him."_ So that's where she had been disappearing every other night,_ Rose thought. "And one dinner led to another and another and finally a week ago, he asked me to marry him!"

Rose stared. They were actually getting married. Renée squealed and hugged Rose and the latter laughed awkwardly and patted her friend on the back. Her shock must have been clearly written all over her face, because Renée laughed and said, "I know it's so sudden, but you were ill and I wanted to tell you face to face!"

"You could have come visit me," she said as she joined Renée in her laughter, although she didn't feel nearly as elated as the other.

"Oh, but you know how swamped we've been and I really just wanted to surprise when you got back," the brunette replied, hugging Rose again.

"Of course," Rose said, laughing a little forcefully and pulling back. Deciding that she could think about the particulars later, because now was the time to be happy for her friend; she smiled at the two of them and said, "Congratulations. I'm so happy for you."

* * *

**A/n: Yes, Renée's getting married. Sorry to disappoint? [Not really]**

**If you're curious, yes, there is a part 3 to this, because as I said previously, the chapter got too long and had to be broken into three parts. Luckily this isn't such a cliffie :3**

**A penny for your thoughts and a ginormous cookie for your reviews!**

**Lots of love~**


	10. Unresolved Feelings - III

**A/n: Finally the last part of this and what you have been waiting for!**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Unresolved Feelings – III**

* * *

"I'm so happy for us too!" Renée squealed, jumping up and down on the spot. Cole laughed and came closer to place his arm around Renée's waist and kiss the side of her head.

He smiled at Rose and said, "I heard you just got back and I know all of this is extremely sudden, so we'll leave you to let the news settle in."

He bowed his head slightly and Rose smiled. He was exactly like she had pictured a well-bred man of noble birth to be, nothing in the least like Scorpius and his haughty I'm-so-superior demeanor. She nodded and stepped aside so they could walk to the door. Renée wriggled out of her fiancé's hold and coming up to Rose, hugged her for a third time and whispered in her ear,

"I wanted to warn you beforehand, but I suppose you've already guessed that I'll be quitting soon; so I've been on the look-out for viable candidates to take my place. I've interviewed a few and have found one I thought was suitable. Shall I send him to your office so you can have a talk with him?"

Rose was suddenly feeling breathless and it had nothing to do with how tightly Renée was hugging her. She nodded mutely, because she didn't trust herself to speak and shot her friend a smile. Renée grinned back and ran off to where Cole was waiting by the door. Rose threw her hand out and grabbed the first thing she could find – which was a tall plant – for support. Her head was reeling and she was feeling unsteady. She saw Scorpius make his way to her with a look of concern on his face.

"Rose? Are you alright?"

Renée was getting married. She was quitting her job and probably moving out of the country.

"Your office," she mumbled and Scorpius placed a hand on the small of her back to steady her.

"What?"

"She said _your_ office. Not _our_ office. She's really leaving." She looked up at Scorpius with wide, unsure eyes and his expression softened.

"Do you want to sit down and take a moment?" he asked her gently and she shook her head with a forced laugh.

"She didn't tell me. Did you know?"

He grimaced and then nodded once.

"When!" she demanded and he sighed.

"Rose, come on, sit down and let me get you a drink."

"When did she tell you, Scorpius!" she shrieked, grabbing hold of the front of his shirt and making him wince. He placed his hand on top of hers and tried to ease her fingers apart.

"It doesn't matter—"

"It matters to me!"

She looked at him desperately and his silver eyes turned grey. His jaw set and he said in a flat voice, "Almost a week ago."

"A week," she choked, swaying on her feet. He grabbed her around the waist and steadied her. She laughed humourlessly and stared at a portion of the wooden partition beside the door.

"I was only gone four days. Five, if you count the half day when I fainted," she said in pained voice.

Scorpius looked down at her worriedly and Summoned his chair to her even as he answered, "Yes, but you were so busy, Rose. She probably didn't want to bother you."

"Bother me?" she screeched, her eyes flashing and her face flushing. "She thought it was a _bother_ to tell me something that would change her life forevermore?"

Scorpius's eyebrows furrowed and his eyes began turning murky again. "Rose, please calm down. You didn't see yourself this past week. You looked like you would maim anyone if they so much as dared to look you in the eye."

Rose yelled in frustration and swung an arm out, hitting the potted plant with such forced that it teetered and fell over with a crash. Scorpius swore and glanced over his shoulder at the door. He flicked his wand towards the door to slam it shut. He muttered under his breath and a privacy ward shimmered in place just within the four walls of the office. He had sound proofed it so no one would hear if Rose went on a rampage.

She screamed in frustration and dug her fingers into her scalp as she flopped down on the chair. Scorpius kneeled down beside her and stroked her back soothingly. She lashed her hand out at him and yelled, "Stop that!"

His eyes flashed but he simply sat back. He was probably thinking she was overreacting for something that she would otherwise consider and regard with careful scrutiny. Even _she_ thought she was overreacting. And it probably had very little to do with the fact that Renée had randomly decided that she was going to get married to some fellow who was almost half a decade older than her, and leave Rose alone to replace her with some other chap who probably didn't have half the skills Renée had, to handle the job.

It had more to do with the anger she felt towards herself for being so uninvolved with everything other than her work that Renée had thought it would be a _bother_ to confide in her supposed best friend about one of the most major, life changing decisions she would ever make. She had been so involved in her own foolish, conflicted feelings toward Scorpius, and had not only overworked herself, but had gotten nothing good from it.

She had not finished the work after all those hours of sleep and mealtimes that she had sacrificed, she had fallen sick and missed work for nearly five days, she had made Scorpius feel like he wasn't adequate enough to enjoy her trust and last but not the least, she hadn't bothered asking Renée where she went all those nights she hurriedly finished her work, or when she stared off into space with a dreamy expression on her face. Rose had noticed the change in her friend's behaviour, but instead of asking, she had snapped at her to do her job instead of daydreaming all the time.

And now that she thought about it, Renée had tried more than once to approach Rose until she was either cut off with a curt reply or had been shot down by one of Rose's don't-talk-to-me looks. So it had been her own fault, and yet she seemed to find it justifiable to even _think_ that Renée had betrayed their friendship for even a moment. She was the worst friend and the worst superior and probably the worst person who was alive right then and she wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there for a very long time.

"I am a horrible, horrible person," she sobbed into her hands and she felt Scorpius wrap his arms around her and pull her against his chest. She froze momentarily, but didn't push him away for several reasons. One, the wooden partition and the privacy ward wouldn't let anyone into the room to glimpse what they were doing; two, she had just hit his hand away and didn't want to reject him a second time for only trying to console her; and three, she needed someone to tell her that she wasn't the worst person on the planet even if she felt like she was. And Scorpius did exactly that.

"Hush, love. It's not your fault. She should have told you anyway," he said in a soft, soothing voice as he stroked her hair.

"But I never even cared enough to ask about her life or why she dressed up more than usual or why she finished her work earlier than usual! I just drowned myself in my own work and completely ignored her to the extent that she didn't want to confide in me about something so important!" she wailed into his chest.

"Rose," he said slowly and when she shook her head, he pulled away and tried again. "Rose, look at me."

She stared at the loose knot of his tie for a long moment before slowly raising her eyes to meet his. They softened at the sight of her tear-streaked cheeks and forlorn expression and he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her insides jolted at the light brush of his fingers against her cheek and her eyes widened infinitesimally.

He smiled softly and said, "I'm sure you had your own reasons for immersing yourself in your work as you had done, because even Renée admitted that she'd never seen you overwork yourself like that, without food or sleep, for such a long period of time."

She wanted to snap at him, but she was too preoccupied by how his lips formed words without actually moving and how he still had his arms around her. She looked up into his eyes when he paused and saw that they were shining with some sort of conflicted emotion.

"You might think this highly rude and presumptuous of me, and it probably is, and I'm ready for you to give me an earful afterwards, but can I be so bold as to ask if any of this has even the slightest to do with me?"

Her breathing stilled and her first instinct was to smack his chest and yell at him for being such a pompous boor, but since he had already declared that she could give him an earful later, she paused and wondered if she should tell him that it indeed had a lot to do with him. Maybe it would make him even more bigheaded than he already was, but it might be better to just throw the truth out in the open so that she could have the selfish satisfaction that she wasn't the only one breaking her head over it.

"Yes," she breathed and her heart began to pick up speed as she saw the way his expression changed. His eyes were dark – and not in the way she associated with thunderclouds when he was angry, but the kind that you associated with a predator who had just spotted its prey.

"Why?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper, having taken on a deep, growling undertone.

"I—I don't know," she admitted, feeling the heat explode from within her and make her entire body feel hot and flushed. He hummed in his throat – a low, rumbling sound that sent shivers down her spine and his mouth spread in a slow, lazy smirk. She could feel the heat from his palms as he pressed them against the small of her back, like they were going to burn right through her.

"You don't know? At all?"

She found that she was having trouble breathing or even forming coherent thoughts, for that matter, as she stuttered and shook her head, wondering how thinking self-loathing thoughts and breaking a pot had suddenly led to her staring into Scorpius's blazing eyes and feeling like he was looking right into her very soul.

"I don't—" she choked, but her tongue caught on itself and felt thick and numb in her mouth and refused to form words, and it was like Scorpius was drawing closer and closer and the air in the room was getting hotter and hotter and when he parted his lips to murmur her name, she was already teetering closer and closer towards the abyss.

"Rose."

A whimper escaper her lips and her eyelashes fluttered as his arms tightened around her and his gaze flickered down to her parted lips. She could feel common sense and reason flying out the window and she knew if she didn't do something, she would regret it immensely, but she only had enough energy and will power to tear her eyes from his face and stare at his tie, instead.

"Rose," he said again and tilted her chin up by placing a finger under it. She felt like her heart would leap into her throat and out of her mouth, even as she tried not to completely lose her mind as she stared into his smouldering silver eyes. She gasped and grabbed onto his shirt as though afraid she would fall into the bottomless pit if she let go.

And before she could cry out or scream or even breathe, his mouth was on hers and it was like her entire being was concentrated on the way his blistering lips crushed against hers, mashing and moulding them together. She was feeling giddy from the way he kissed her as though he wanted to devour her whole. She couldn't breathe; she couldn't move; she couldn't think; she couldn't even feel anything other than his lips against hers, and when he licked her lower lip as though asking for permission, she couldn't help but part them for him; because Scorpius Malfoy always got what he wanted and who was she to say otherwise.

She shuddered as he passed his tongue across the roof of her mouth and found her entire body pressing against his as though he had control of her very life force, and if she tried to move away even the slightest, she'd shatter into billions of pieces. She tilted her head back so they fit together better, and he reciprocated by pulling her off the chair and onto his lap. He growled in the back of his throat and she moaned into his mouth. She couldn't breathe, but she couldn't care less; she felt like she would implode from the waves of pleasure jolting through her as their mouths melded together, moving and sucking and caressing.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. She sighed at the soft, silky, cool feel of his locks against her burning skin and he did the same with hers, slowly moving his fingers upwards from the base of her neck to massage her scalp. It was just too much, how many sensations she was feeling and she felt like she would go insane from being unable to handle them all.

When they finally pulled away, he tugged her hair and tilted her head back to look into her eyes, both of them breathing heavily; their faces pink and flushed, their hair disheveled, and their lips swollen and moist. They still had their arms around each other and were pressed up against each other and with every second that she stared into his eyes, the more she wanted him to kiss her into oblivion. He trailed his thumb across her bottom lip and she let out a shuddering gasp.

"Shite," he swore harshly, and kissed her again. Except this time, their eyes were open and they stared at each other as he kissed her slowly and deeply; nothing like the previously intense and passionate kiss, but so much more. When he pulled away, she was already feeling her panic return with full force and she shook her head slightly.

"Rose?" he asked softly and she shook her head, her eyes burning.

"No," she whispered haggardly and his eyes went wide and cold. He began to pull away and she started to sob, clutching onto him, still shaking her head. "I don't—I don't understand," she cried, and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I don't know what I feel! I don't know if I want this!" She was bawling by then and shuddering from the strength of her sobs.

He looked at her with a concerned expression and asked gently, "What is it that you want right now, Rose?"

"I don't know," she wailed, leaning her head against his shoulder and weeping. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked gently, nuzzling her hair.

"Hush, love. Everything will be alright. Please don't cry, Rose."

She pulled back and looked up at him, sniffling and rubbing her hand across her face. She laughed through her sobs and said, "You must really think I'm mental, huh?"

He smiled, his eyes twinkling as he said, "Oh, but I always knew you were slightly off your rocker."

She smacked his chest and he chuckled. She sighed. "Why did you kiss me, Scorpius?"

She knew it was a stupid question, but she had come to realize that there wasn't only one single meaning to a kiss. A kiss could mean so many things other than love or affection. It could signify attraction, or curiosity, or desperation, or loneliness, or grief, or the need to be held by someone, or desire, or farewell, or guilt, or regret or so many, many things, and she honestly was emotionally distraught enough for wanting an answer to that question.

He seemed to regard her with a thoughtful expression, before leaning forward and rubbing his nose against hers. That small gesture made her heart flutter and her breath hitch and her belly fill with butterflies.

He smiled crookedly at her and said, "I shall only tell you after you tell me."

She let her mouth drop and looked at him accusingly. "You kissed me! You should tell me first!"

"But you kissed back," he replied, the same familiar sparkle in his silver eyes.

"But—" she said, and he chuckled lightly.

"I need to know that you won't walk out of here and suddenly realise this whole thing was a mistake and start avoiding me like the plague. I need to know that you will accept the fact that this kiss did happen and that you actively participated in it and that you will be honest about the fact that you felt some level of attraction towards me." When she started to protest, he pressed a finger to her mouth and said, "At least enough to want to kiss me a second time."

She shut her mouth at that. It wasn't exactly something she could refute, especially since it was the truth.

"I want you to admit that you feel something undeniable for me, even if you can't describe it as anything more than physical attraction. At least for now," he added, when he saw the way she frowned. He slowly stood up and helped her to her feet. He rubbed his thumb lightly against her cheek and she felt herself involuntarily lean into the caress. His eyes shone and he smiled down at her.

"Oh, and," he said, leaning forwards and kissing her sweetly before pulling back and saying, "I promise I won't behave in any way different than before until you yourself come to me and tell me you want me to."

And then he offered her a small, genuine smile before walking back to his desk, with his chair in tow, and collapsing the privacy ward. She felt something indescribable but undoubtedly present inside her that she somehow had always known had been there, but had needed a little push to finally come to life. She breathed in and out several times and straightened her suit and her hair before nodding to him and exiting his office.

Not thinking about the kiss at all, just what he had said in the end – that he was willing to give her both time and space and had left the decision of whether to put and end to what had happened in his office and never bring it up again, or let it slowly grow into something more, completely to her - had left her feeling warm and winded. He was willing to accept either, and that in itself was enough for her to realise that maybe giving it a thought wasn't too dangerous after all.

She didn't know what this thing between them was, but as he had pointed out, it was undeniably there – and had always been there, if any of the previous tension between them was a sign – and they weren't children anymore. Whether they decided to ignore it or pursue it, was something they would decide as mutually consenting adults and that in itself put her mind at ease.

With just one kiss Scorpius had served to resolve most of her unresolved feelings.

* * *

**A/n: So I made up for all the cliffies, right? Right? Tell me what you think!**

**Lots of love and cookies~**


	11. Change

**A/n: I wanted to write this because I kept forgetting to do it every time I updated; did any of you notice the cover picture for this story and the significance it holds in relation to Scorose? In case you didn't, I shall tell you because it was a moment of sheer coincidence and epicness and I just have to tell you; raw lithium is a dirty silvery-grey, while polished lithium [as seen in the picture] is a rosy pink. Yes, silver for Scorpius and rosy pink for Rose. All hail epic coincidences! **

**Now on with the story!**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Change**

* * *

"I need to talk to you and I need you to _listen_."

Albus looked up from the notes he was making to see Rose stride into his office with a determined expression on her face. He was about to tell her that he was busy, but she made herself comfortable on a stool, crossed her legs and arms and stared up at him resolutely. He regarded her for a moment and then seeing that she wasn't going to budge until she got what she wanted, he sighed and nodding, placed his clipboard down and sat on the stool in front of her.

"What brought this on?"

She pressed her lips into a line and stared at him like she was debating whether or not coming there had been a mistake. Finally, she made a weird groaning sound in her throat and slumped slightly. She turned to look at the clipboard and nodded towards it.

"What's that you've got there? Research findings?"

"Rose, if you're not going to get straight to the point and dawdle with small talk, do you mind if I get back to what I was doing? I'm not on break right now."

Rose waved her hand and said, "Right, of course, sorry. Er, the thing I wanted to talk about is…"

"Is?" Albus prompted when she made a face like she didn't know how to continue. She waved her hands around and stuttered about random things until Albus rolled his eyes and grabbed one of her wrists so she would be forced to look at him.

"Rosie, please tell me you're here to tell me you've finally realised that you're head over heels for Scorpius and the two of you are going to get married and have little blond and redheaded babies."

From the way she turned a furious shade of red, he knew he'd hit the nail on the head, but from the way she frowned and pouted at him, he knew she didn't appreciate the mental image his statement had caused. Meaning, there was something undeniably present that would even allow Rose to form a mental image in the first place, instead of immediately shooting him down with a smart comeback as she always had done.

Trying to quell his excitement, he leaned forward and said, "So tell me what happened. I promise I won't make any smart comments."

After considering him for a long moment, Rose said in a small, childishly scared voice, "Promise?"

Albus reached out and flicked her forehead before saying, "If you decided that this was important enough that you couldn't firecall before hand or wait till I was on break, then yes, I promise."

She chewed on the inside of her cheek while she took a moment to, seemingly, tie down her stray thoughts and finally sighed. She ducked her head and mumbled something Albus couldn't hear. He leaned forward but she kept muttering in an inaudible voice and he stifled a groan.

"Rosie, did you come here to talk to your hands or me?"

She looked up at him wide-eyed and then opened her mouth, making to talk, and then paused, like she didn't know where to start and just as Albus was beginning to get irritated and start to scold her, she abruptly blurted out,

"Scorpius kissed me."

Albus jerked his head to goggle at her, but from the stricken expression on her face and the pink tinge on her cheeks, he knew this wasn't some sort of practical joke. As though Rose even knew how to make a practical joke.

"_He _kissed _you_?" Albus clarified, and Rose nodded hurriedly, causing her fiery curls to bounce around. Albus clutched the side of his desk as he tried to abstain from saying everything he wanted to say, and instead, asked, "And you didn't kiss him back?"

Rose turned red again and stared at a spot on his white Healer robes before mumbling, "Of course I did."

Albus grinned from ear to ear and with a light laugh, reached forward and pinched both her cheeks.

"About damn time! You cannot even _begin_ to fathom how long I have waited for this!"

Rose had a very conflicted expression on her face, but Albus could recognise the anxiety all too easily. He waved it off and pulled his stool closer to her. "And?" he said, excitement clear in his voice.

Rose frowned. "And what?"

"And what are you going to do about it?"

Before Rose could duck her head again, Albus grabbed her chin and stared into her chocolate brown eyes. She struggled, but finally relenting, said, "I'm not sure…yet."

Albus sat back and nodded encouragingly. "That's right. You take your time to think about it. But not too long, alright? That blundering idiot has been going round and round you in circles for years. I should go give him a good clap on the back for finally finding the balls to act on his feelings."

Rose made a face at his crass way of describing things and then stood up. Albus looked up at her curiously, coughing a little into his hand. "What, that's it? I thought you said you wanted me to listen. You haven't said more than a dozen words!"

"I… should probably get back to work," she said half-heartedly and Albus pursed his lips at her.

"Really, Rosie?"

She shrugged sheepishly and fiddled with her hair. "I just… I thought you should know… since you're his best mate and everything… and, I don't know, it just felt like you've always known something was going to happen between us and…" she sighed and made a frustrated sound at her sudden lack of words and Albus smiled at her as he stood up and picked up his clipboard.

"You know, Rosie, even for all your genius and ability to find solutions for problems nobody would have even thought of, you are completely oblivious to the goings on within you." He touched her cheek and said softly, "You've finally acknowledged that there has always been something that connected you to him, haven't you?"

When she nodded, he said in a teasing voice, "Like the red thread of fate or something—"

"Al!"

He laughed and ruffled her hair and his laugh turned into a muffled cough. He winced and she frowned in concern.

"Is something wrong? Are you ill?"

"I'm fine, it's just a little phlegm in my nodes. Don't worry yourself about it."

She didn't look too convinced but nodded and turned to go, anyway. When she began to walk away, he called to her as a sudden after thought crossed his mind. "Rosie?"

She looked over her shoulder at him and he said, "It's alright to be honest about how you feel. There's no longer your petty rivalry like in school or other things that have stopped you, hovering over your head, now."

She gave him a thoughtful look and he smiled. "You go show them who's boss, Rosie."

She tilted her head. "I am, though."

He chuckled and raised his clipboard in tribute. "That's my girl."

* * *

"If you would like me to come back later, then I can do so, ma'am."

She looked up, biting back a sigh, and regarded the man seated across from her with scrutiny. Lucas Zachery – the man Renée had chosen as her successor – had turned out to be as far away from Rose's expectations as the tip of a mountain to its base. She had expected to see a young, raggedly handsome man with bright blond, styled hair or piercing eyes or a rather to-die-for physique – or something of the like. But the man sitting on the other side of her desk, patiently waiting for her foul mood to subside so he could be interviewed, was nothing at _all_ like what she had pictured him to be.

Not to be rude, but he was nothing remotely close to Renée's standard first choice. He came closer to probably her last resort, if anything. He was of average height, with average features and average characteristics. From his neatly combed brown hair, to his freckled face, to the one-size-too-large suit, to his painfully obviously new shoes and his rim-rod straight back, he was exuding an aura of absolute mortification and looked like he was closer to being sick than getting through the interview.

She would have felt sorry for him if her head wasn't competing with her on whether she would explode before it did.

"Forgive me, Mister Zachery. Today has been quite tedious, you see," she said as calmly as she could, offering him a strained smile – which he returned with a frightened one.

"I can always come back, ma'am," he offered again and she waved her hand as she threw her quill into her pot of ink, daring the splattering drops to get on her parchment.

"No no, I've already made you wait long enough," she replied tiredly, reaching up to undo her hair and leaning back with a sigh. She clasped her fingers in her lap and regarded him for a long moment, making him bow his head from discomfort. She was debating whether it would be a good idea to interview him when she was clearly ready to chomp his head off, when there were three sharp raps on the door.

She glanced up to see Scorpius standing half inside, his free hand holding something that undoubtedly would further the chances of her head exploding. She motioned for him to enter and he did, barely casting the cowering man opposite her a mild look of disinterest. He raised his hand to show her the small, brown, manila envelope he was holding and she raised her eyebrows.

"Did I somehow miss the notification of the usage of Muggle mail instead of our standard methods?"

Scorpius snorted lightly, a smirk tugging at his mouth as he tossed the envelope onto her desk and motioned towards it.

"It just arrived in my office five minutes ago. Open it."

She picked it up and eyed the already unsealed top. She raised her eyebrows at him and he shrugged.

"It looked suspicious; you can't blame me for being curious."

She hummed as she pulled out a slim piece of card from within. The card had the standard proportions of a typical invitation and as she flipped it over, she saw that slow golden swirls were appearing across the blank white card. She held it a little away, her curiosity getting the better of her, as she watched the intricate swirls come to a stop at the centre to form an empty circular space. She waited a second longer, and a golden rose began to bloom on the card.

She laughed lightly. There was only one person who would go to such lengths to simply invite her to something.

"She's done a marvelous job of it, if I say so myself," Scorpius commented lightly and Rose chuckled. She flipped the card back over to see that gold lettering had appeared on it, cordially inviting her to Renée Herington and Cole Wardford's engagement, to be held on the second Sunday of July – a week from then.

"You got one too?" she asked Scorpius as she turned the card over to watch the golden swirls reappear on the once again blank white card.

"Yeah, except mine was just a side note in the envelope that demanded that I bring a superb gift along."

She found herself laughing despite herself and relaxed into her chair, smiling as the rose reappeared.

"Well, since that's all, I suppose I shall leave you to whatever it was you were deciding to do," Scorpius said, glancing sideways at the man Rose had forgotten was still there, an amused smirk on his face. She nodded to him and he strode to the door, pausing to look over his shoulder and say, "Oh, and all the books, research materials and findings, and files from the main library and the archives, have been transferred to the department library successfully."

"Yes, I just signed the forms asking for permission for temporary expansion. Do we really have all that much?"

"It would appear so. Jordan was insistent on halving the living quarters to turn it into another storage area."

"Absolutely not," Rose replied instantly, frowning at Scorpius. "Nobody's halving anything and especially not without informing me first. Go ahead and expand the library for now, I'll decide which labs can be transformed into the archives later."

"Already on it," Scorpius said with a smart salute and disappeared behind the wooden partition. She hadn't gotten around to changing it back to glass yet and it somehow made her uncomfortable and claustrophobic to be unable to see the space outside her office through the glass.

_Maybe I can make it a one way mirror_, she thought idly, putting aside the card and its envelope carefully and picking up the résumé on the desk.

"So, Mister Zachery, Miss Herington has spoken of you with quite high praise," she began, finally acknowledging the man in front of her. He sat up straight in his seat and mumbled a nervous thank you.

"Tell me, Mister Zachery, what made you choose this department?" she asked, clasping her fingers atop the desk and regarding him through half lidded eyes.

"It was my first choice, actually, and I received a recommendation letter as well, so…"

"Yes," Rose said, eyeing said recommendation letter. "This contains some very notable achievements of yours, I see. You were made the junior secretary at the firm you were previously working for?"

"I was interning there, actually, and it was more luck and being in the right place at the right time, than anything."

She raised her eyebrows at him. Of all the scientists and other workers she had interviewed, she had been able to broadly classify them into two categories: the kind that liked to boast about their accomplishments more than anything, and the kind that only stated what they wanted to do and why they had seen the Ministry's R&amp;E department as worth their time and effort. But she had never yet met someone who undermined their own abilities without a thought that it may lead to losing them the job.

_What is it that you saw in him, Renée_, she wondered, flipping through his file.

"And why do you think I should make you the Head of the Theoretical Division, Mister Zachery?"

"Oh no, I absolutely wouldn't think such a thing, ma'am. I only applied with the hopes that I would be allowed to use the superior facilities of the Ministry in order to further my research. Miss Herington didn't say anything about me replacing her, ma'am, nothing at all."

Rose looked up at him, not even bothering to hide her smile. _I see now._

Renée had chosen him because he was the kind of person Rose preferred the most – someone who was humble, honest, hard-working, and obeyed the rules and authority without question. She hadn't simply chosen someone who would replace her, but rather someone who Rose could make the utmost use of and trust would do the job to the best of his abilities.

_Even when you leave, you can't do so without leaving behind a strong reminder of your presence_, she thought fondly_, _shuffling the sheets of parchment and sliding them across the desk.

Zachery looked up with some shock, paling as he assumed he had failed the interview. She only smiled at that and standing, stretched out her hand.

"Welcome to the Department of Research and Experimentation, Mister Zachery – no, Lucas. From this moment forth, you shall be the new Head of the Theoretical Division and I shall give you the rest of the day off so you may explore the department and introduce yourself to your fellow colleagues."

Lucas stared at her like she had grown another head and she pointedly glanced at her outstretched hand, her amused smile still in place. He blustered and clutched her hand with both of his, shaking it heartily.

"I shall do my best, ma'am!"

"That I am sure of," she replied as he hurriedly collected his things and made his way to the door. "Oh, and Lucas?" she called after him, making him look over his shoulder. She smiled wider as she came to stand beside her desk.

"Call me Rose."

* * *

"That was quite nice of you, to give him the day off."

She hummed as she swung her feet back and forth, popping another marshmallow in her mouth.

"So," Scorpius said, finally looking up from where he was rummaging in the file cabinet across from her. "What brings the great Miss Weasley to my humble abode?"

"I was actually thinking about what you said about halving the living quarters—"

"What _Jordan _said, you mean."

"—and I thought it was actually a half decent idea."

She raised her eyes to him, gauging his reaction. He straightened up and tugged on his ponytail, his eyes wide and swimming with obvious conflict. She slid down from her perch on his desk and made her way to him, leaning against the file cabinet and staring at the pink marshmallow in her hand. She looked up through her lashes, watching his thoughtful expression as he eyed her fingers twisting the marshmallow around.

"So, I guess your previous threat wasn't empty after all," he mused lightly, but she could hear the underlying heaviness to it. She sighed and leaned back.

"Scorpius, I told you that you'd have to move out sooner than later. I made this decision based on the practicality of it, not in order to carry out what apparently seemed like a threat."

He was nodding even before she finished, scratching his head and staring off into space. "Yeah, I know," he said dully and she felt a sudden urge to take him in her arms. She stomped it down with fierce determination, but couldn't stop the way her heart beat increased or the flush that crept up her neck.

"I think this is a good opportunity for you to go back home," she said softly, trying to make it sound like an innocent suggestion, just so he wouldn't take it the wrong way.

His eyes flashed and his jaw set and she winced slightly. So much for that.

He sighed long and deep and placed his hands on his hips, his head hanging. She stared at it and was surprised to see that the roots of his hair were still the familiar platinum that she always remembered, even if the rest of it was more a dirty ivory. He finally raised his head and fixed darkening eyes on her.

"I can't go home."

It was a statement. A fact. Nothing more, nothing less. Which was what made it all the more difficult to handle. She grimaced sadly and unconsciously stepped closer to him. She knew he didn't want to talk about it; the finality in his voice made that much painfully clear. And she knew that even if she were to stupidly pursue it, it would be to no avail. She opened her mouth, unsure of what exactly she was going to say, but he cut her the effort by beating her to it.

"I thought the quarters were important? Where will they sleep?"

"I… actually had a thought on converting the quarters into a proper library and turning the current library into a living space. It will be smaller and have bunks instead of beds, but I think it's more practical – considering nobody in the division actually cares much about comfort anyway as long as it conforms to logic and practical usage."

He nodded slowly as though throwing the idea around in his head. She knew for a fact that he would agree to it. The renovation would be long and tedious, but she knew he would get it done.

"Also," she said hurriedly, turning away from him to go and sit in his chair. "I was thinking that maybe we could halve this office so Lucas can move in here."

She swiveled the chair back and forth, giving him a moment to let the idea sink in. He finally nodded, ruffling his hair and huffing tiredly. "Yeah, he'd be more comfortable with me than you."

"That's what I thought," she replied, pinching her lips together. Over the years, she'd found that people considered her – the small, petite redhead – more intimidating than him – the broad, looming blond. And although she enjoyed the sense of power that gave her, it also accompanied with it a sense of loss and loneliness. Renée had been the only one who stood up to her as an equal and could match Rose's flying temper and extreme adamance with her own. Not to mention, Scorpius was the only other person who could match her pigheadedness with his own.

He nodded again, coming to stand at the desk. Placing his hands on it, he leaned his weight forward, staring at the glass top as though seeing it for the first time. She continued to swivel from side to side, simply to give the false impression of nonchalance so as to allow him the moment of self-preservation. He finally looked up, and she recognised the familiar glint in his dark eyes that were now returning to their usual silver.

"Uh-oh," she whispered, stilling her movement as a slow grin spread across his face.

"I know where I can stay."

* * *

**A/n: Er, somehow I keep ending my chapters with cliffies... sorry?**

**Anyway, I just wanted to mention that in case you've forgotten, the reason Lucas's interview was so short was because Renée had already interviewed him before hand after hand picking him and a handful others who passed the written test. So yeah, just in case you were wondering why it was so abrupt and short.**

**Love~**


	12. All That Is New

**Chapter 12**

**All That Is New**

* * *

"Just _listen _to me! I think it's a _fantastic_ idea!"

"If your definition of fantastic is equivalent to bullshit, then I choose not to."

"Rose, come on, just—will you stop speed walking away from me and just _listen_ to me—Rose!"

She lurched backwards as he grabbed her arm with enough force to make her stagger. She gasped as she fell against his chest, her face instantly turning the shade of her hair. She whipped around, straining to pull out of his vice like grip, as he stared down at her.

"If you think, for even a moment, that you can overcome me when it comes to sheer physical strength, then you are sadly mistaken," he said nonchalantly.

She hissed and stopped struggling, pressing the hand, whose arm he was gripping, against his chest and applying pressure on it. He simply raised unamused eyebrows at her. She made an indignant sound in the back of her throat and thumped his chest, baring her teeth at him. He only scoffed, his eyes flickering down to her mouth.

"Although your little tantrum is highly amusing, Miss Weasley, I stay firm to my previous statement."

"You are the world's biggest _git_," she spat, fisting his shirt in her hand. He used his free hand to gently cover hers and ease it slightly so she wasn't hurting him, his eyes dancing with the same wide-eyed look of innocent amusement.

"My, what a rude thing to say, Miss Weasley. Besides, I'm more concerned about the fact that you refuse to give up your stubbornness even if it means we shall keep standing in the middle of a corridor in quite a compromising position with all eyes on us," he said lightly, laughter lacing his words.

Her mouth fell open as her eyes darted around, confirming the truth of what he had said. She immediately released her grip on him and he let go of her, stepping back and raising his hands to show that he wasn't going to grab her again. She eyed him suspiciously as his mouth twitched into a smirk.

"Scorpius Malfoy, I absolutely do _not _appreciate you publicly humiliating me," she hissed, turning on her heel and striding towards her office. The second she knew he was inside, she flicked her wand and slammed the door shut with so much force that the wooden partition rattled.

"There's no need to rage—it was just a thought."

"A thought that you think is good enough to be pursued!"

"Wouldn't you?"

"No! Are you mental?"

"It's only temporary, till I find a place of my own."

"Well, find one already!"

"It's not easy."

"Scorpius bloody Malfoy, you listen to me when I say I am _not_ letting you live with me!"

"Not even for a day?"

"_Not even over my dead body!"_

"Fine, one night then?"

She goggled at him, mouth-hanging open, completely dumbfounded by the shite-eating grin spreading across his face. The _nerve _of him! She slammed her hand on her desk and pointed to the door, still unable to find her voice. He raised his hands in surrender and shook his head.

"Alright alright, I agree, that was uncalled for—"

"_You think?"_

"—but I'm being completely honest, here. I don't care if you lock me up in your storeroom, as long as you let me expand it enough so I can sleep."

"Why the fuck do I have to let you stay with me! Why is this bothersome situation only becoming more bothersome! I intended for it to get better, not worse! And especially not for me!"

He paused, his eyebrows raised, as he watched her fume. She swore again and flopped onto her chair, turning it around and away from him.

"I think it's hot when you swear," he said softly.

She closed her eyes and cried out in outrage, thoroughly exhausted by his aggravating personality. He came up to her and kneeled down beside her chair, looking up at her with solemn eyes.

"I'm asking—no, pleading—please let me stay for a while. I promise that I harbour no ill intentions. I genuinely have nowhere to go."

She looked into his honest silver eyes and felt her chest clench. He was looking at her in that same wide-eyed, innocent way—a small, pleading smile on his face.

_Whoever said the bloody Muggle saying about puppy-dog eyes was a myth, should keel over and die._

"Fine," she sighed, rubbing her forehead as her previous headache returned with full force. When he didn't move, she eyed him wearily.

"What?" she snapped and he bowed his head slightly, raising her hand to his mouth and brushing his lips against it.

"Thank you," he murmured and she felt her irritation ebb away.

She regarded his bowed head for half a moment before saying coolly, "Fine, but you owe me."

"Anything," he replied in the same revered voice and looked up at her with shining eyes. Her heart thudded against her rib cage and her eyes flickered to his mouth. She immediately glanced back up—only to see that he had noticed the action, his own eyes closing slightly and growing darker.

_I do not want to kiss him!_ She told herself crossly, even as her own body betrayed her by slowly leaning forwards.

"Rose," he murmured and her breath immediately caught, her heart leaping to her throat.

_Stop! Stop stop stop stop stop!_

She sighed as his grip on her hand tightened, his chin tilting upwards in order to meet her as he rose slightly onto his knees. A shuddering breath escaped her parted lips and her eyelids fluttered as he came closer. She gripped the armrest, the thudding of her heart almost painful.

Almost.

His lips parted slightly and she swallowed thickly. It was unfair how intense a reaction he elicited from her simply by looking at her with that burning gaze...

Almost.

"May I come in, Miss Weasley? There's something I want to—oh!"

She immediately snapped back, her eyes wide with fear, her racing heart increasing in speed as the heat from her face instantly turned cold. Scorpius's expression mirrored how she felt as he went completely pale, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.

"I—I'm so—I didn't mean to—excuse me!"

"Shite," she breathed, her fingers clasping the armrest so tightly, it hurt. Scorpius soundlessly mouthed a curse and she breathed in shakily.

"Go after him," she squeaked, and he nodded hurriedly, jumping to his feet and racing out.

"Shite," she said again, staring at the spot where he had been. "_Shite."_

* * *

"Lucas! Oi, Lucas! Stop running, goddamnit, this isn't a marathon and I'm not going to pound you to death!"

Scorpius watched as the shorter male stumbled to a stop and slowly looked over his shoulder fearfully. He quelled the urge to run a hand down his face as he stepped closer and eased his features into a pleasant smile.

"Hi! We haven't met yet—I'm Scorpius Malfoy."

"I—I know who you are," the shorter man stammered, his brown eyes round with fear. Scorpius quelled the urge to snap at him.

"And you're Lucas Zachery."

"…Yes."

"And we're fellow Division Heads."

"It—it would seem so, although—"

"So as a fellow Head, can I trust that you can keep a secret?"

Lucas looked like he was going to say no, before nodding furiously, making him look like a house-elf. Scorpius's smile was much less strained as he reached out and shook the other's hand.

"Thanks, mate. Oh, and, you'll be moving into my—no, _our_ office tomorrow, so make sure you get here early."

Lucas nodded again and Scorpius grinned at him. "Cheers," he said, clapping him on the shoulder and striding back to Rose's office.

_She is going to be so pissed_, he thought, grimacing at the thought. He walked in and shut the door behind him carefully, raising his arm just in case she threw something at him.

Except nothing came his way, save for a fearful gaze and hurried, "What did he say?"

"What can he possibly say? He's not going to breathe a word to anyone and you know it."

She nodded slowly, taking her face in her hands and moaning into them. "Oh, this is horrible! What idiot walks in when the door is closed! And without even knocking!" she said into her hands, her voice muffled.

He walked up and sprawled across the opposite chair, rubbing his own hands up and down his face. "You probably should brief him on the ways of the folk here before a repetition occurs."

Her head snapped up and he immediately regretted what he had said.

"Repetition?" she asked softly, her expression furious. "There will _be_ no _repetition,_ Mister Malfoy! Are we absolutely clear on that?"

He would have been easily able to ease his face into a smile, but at that moment, he was far too frustrated to bother. "Your wish is my command," he said crisply, getting to his feet and smoothing his crumpled shirt where she had grabbed him. He nodded curtly to her and strode to the door, pausing to look over his shoulder and ask, "May I be excused?"

"You're already on your way out, do you honestly expect me to stop you?"

He gave her a tight smile and exited, not even wincing when the door slammed behind him.

He had known that things would irrevocably turn out to be like this, when he had pursued her. He had always known. And he had also always known that her immediate reaction to everything would be to pin the blame on him. It was a course of action he had brought upon himself, with all the pranks he had played on her during their years at Hogwarts – so much so, that by the end of it, even the slightest thing that went wrong would be his fault, whether it was or not.

He had fully expected it and had been prepared to endure the fate he had brought upon himself. A small price to pay in order to be with her – or se he had thought.

But this was a story from nearly a decade ago and they were now grown adults. To continue to do the same seemed childishly foolish—as did his anger at the moment.

He knew that she knew that she had been the one who had initiated what had happened back in her office. He could see the conflict in her expression even as she had begun to lose herself to the longing her body felt. And yes, he was in the wrong for encouraging it instead of denying it, but who was he to refuse something that he had desperately yearned for for so long?

He had only taken things so far during their time in school because he knew that she would unfalteringly chase after him irrespective of what he said or did to her. He knew her stubborn nature would only be encouraged by his constant poking and prodding, like adding fuel to the fire, as the Muggle saying went. But now, he knew if he pushed too hard, she would snap and completely slip out of his grasp. There was no longer anything tying her to him, or even if there was, it wasn't enough to stop her from turning it away.

But if their relationship – or lack thereof – was going to be built upon a foundation as unstable as this, there was absolutely no point in even pursuing it. Who would be foolish enough to build a huge, beautiful manor on a pile of sticks and stones, knowing it would crumble with the smallest of steps?

His conviction aside, he wasn't desperate enough to simply throw himself head first into the ocean, knowing his inability to swim would undoubtedly drown him. Growling through his teeth, he tugged on his ponytail harshly, his jumbled mind only adding to his annoyance. He couldn't even remember the last time someone had boggled his mind so much that he needed some outside perspective of the whole situation.

And there was only one place to go for that.

* * *

"And so you came running to me because you couldn't clean your own shite?"

"Merlin, Rose wasn't lying when she said you're way of talking has become completely uncivilised."

Albus regarded Scorpius evenly as the two sat staring at each other, silently challenging the other to take the bait. Albus sighed, pocketing his hands and leaned against the table, glancing at his best mate sideways.

"I'm glad you came to me, even after all these years, although, I still don't appreciate that you two just take me for granted. I actually _work_ for a living, you know?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, because all I do is sleep my way to the top."

Albus raised his eyebrows at the snap in Scorpius's voice and the blond rolled his eyes, leaning his cheek on his hand and sulking. It was such a childish way to react to a ridiculous fight that it instantly reminded him of their time in school.

"It's hilarious how much a person can change on the outside even if they remain exactly the same on the inside," Albus commented idly.

"You're telling me," the blond scoffed, scowling at the wall.

"I was talking about you, not Rose – although, she's just as much an idiot as you, if not more."

Scorpius made a face at him. "At least she's a bigger idiot than me."

Albus laughed, running a hand through his hair and coming to sit on the stool next to Scorpius's. "And? What is this about, exactly?"

The blond frowned at him and clucked his tongue. A frustrated Scorpius was by far more amusing than a confused and angry Rose—especially since the former occurred much less than the latter.

"I already told you—"

"That she blamed you and you stormed out on her, yes. But that's obviously not why you're here," Albus replied, raising his brows as he propped his elbows on the table behind him and leaned back on them. Scorpius made a sound in his throat and licked his lips, his expression the exact same as Rose's had been when she had come to see him.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said, leaning forwards and making to stand up.

"No, wait, I'll tell you," came the immediate reply, making Albus smirk and sit back. Scorpius glowered at him.

"You fucking git, you're toying with me."

Albus clapped his hands and laughed at the blond's expression. "Way to come upon that realisation all on your own!"

"You are one sadistic bastard," Scorpius commented, glaring at Albus.

"That, I will never deny," he replied with a twinkle in his eye.

"I worry for your patients' wellbeing," Scorpius muttered, eyeing the various instruments on the table with obvious suspicion.

"It's a good thing I handle research, then, isn't it?" he said, tilting his head back and looking at the blond through his bangs.

"I am not going to bail you out if you do something illegal, I'm telling you right now."

Albus chuckled lightly. "Then it's a good thing my father's the famous Harry Potter," he replied airily. "Plus, a good scandal once in a while isn't so bad. Wouldn't you say so?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

Scorpius's brows furrowed and he looked accusingly at Albus. "How did you—"

"How did I know that someone caught the two of you? Oh, please. I may not be a genius, mate, but my observation and analysing skills are by far superior to yours. Or Rose's," he added, watching the way Scorpius slumped in his seat and sulked some more. "So, how much of a scandal did you cause?"

"None, as far as I'm concerned," came the monotonous reply and Albus looked disappointedly back at the blond.

"What, why? So you weren't caught doing the forbidden with your boss in your boss's office on your boss's desk? A little slap and tickle, eh?" he waggled his eyebrows and Scorpius closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

"Mate, just stop with the crass way of talking, alright? You scare me."

"That's the idea," Albus replied with a wink. Scorpius shook his head slowly.

"So what exactly did you do that made you come running to mummy?"

"Nothing. We were just about to kiss when Lucas walked in."

"Lucas?" Albus asked curiously. That was a name he'd never heard before. Scorpius waved his hand.

"Yeah, the fellow who's replacing Renée."

Albus made an impressed face. "He must be really good, if he's replacing Lady Herington."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow at the nickname but only said, "Apparently she chose him herself. And even Rose approved of him. But personally, I haven't quite seen his charm yet."

"Not worried he's aiming too high?" Albus asked with a lecherous grin.

Scorpius stared at him with a blank expression. "He looks like a scrawny sixteen-year-old who would wet his pants if someone so much as walked up on him from behind."

"Hm, but you never really know. It's those meek, timid types that always gets the girls cooing and falling all over them because they're just simply so adorable."

"I assure you, that will never happen with Rose," Scorpius replied flatly, sighing and taking his head in his hands. "In fact, I'm sure nothing of that sort will ever happen again."

Albus regarded his bowed head for a moment before staring at the opposite wall and saying mildly, "Just give it some time, mate. Especially if she actually was the one who initiated it this time, I'm definite that there will be a next time."

Scorpius scoffed. "Forget next time, I'll probably go on a pilgrimage if she doesn't decide to completely cut me off and regard me with cold indifference."

The blond suddenly sat up, a panicked look on his face. Albus waited patiently for Scorpius's internal dilemma to end so he could get in on the gossip. "Where will I go?" the blond finally asked pitifully and Albus looked at him.

"Home?"

"No," Scorpius said with finality, dismissing it easily with a wave of his hand. "I'd finally got her to agree to me staying with her for a few days…"

Albus nearly fell off his stool and goggled at the blond with an incredulous expression. Scorpius smiled wanly at him. "Yes, I know, it was nothing short of a miracle."

"Mate," Albus said, clutching the other's arm, wiping his grime-coated fingers on Scorpius's sleeve, "forget miracle, this is a once in a hundred lifetimes opportunity that you'll regret even if you end up living forever. You've to somehow get her to agree again."

Scorpius pushed him off with a disgusted sound, wiping his arm on his coat. "I already know that without you telling me. I don't know if it'll ever happen, though…"

He stared pensively at the metal counter before suddenly looking up with hopeful eyes. "What if—"

"Don't even think about it."

Scorpius immediately deflated, glowering at Albus. The latter rolled his eyes. "I live in a dorm. You can't stay with me even if I agreed to let you."

He stood up and dusted the lab coat that he always wore to protect his white Healer robes as he pressed his fist to his mouth and blew into it, feeling his lungs squeeze in the telltale signs of another coughing fit. "Just… go with the flow," he said with a reassuring grin when Scorpius looked at him strangely.

The blond stared at him blankly, standing up and walking backwards to the door. "Yes, I am so glad I came all this way, swallowing my pride, in order to confess my problems to you, only to have you poke fun at me and enjoy yourself at my expense. And then give me the world's most pointless advice. So glad," he called over his shoulder slamming the door behind him.

Albus chuckled, laying a hand to his chest and wincing at the sharp tug of his lungs. _Oh, teasing those two is definitely worth every moment of my short life._

* * *

**A/n: Hello! So I finally decided that it was about time I wrote something in Scorpius's POV since I haven't at all, up till now. Hopefully, writing it from his POV cleared some of the confusion regarding why Rose behaves the way she does when it comes to him. If you still don't get it, feel free to leave a review and I shall reply back with an explanation.**

**Also, remember what I said regarding dear old Albus? **

**A penny for your thoughts and a ginormous cookie for your reviews!**

**Lots of love~**


	13. And All That Is Old

**Chapter 13**

**And All That Is Old**

* * *

She grit her teeth as she slid the key into the keyhole, feeling the shimmer of the wards that meant she could pass through them. She slowly pushed open the door, already regretting her decision. She stepped in and scanned her living room, belatedly wondering if there was a possibility that she'd forgotten to tidy it.

_As if there is._

She removed her coat and hung it on the coat stand as she heard the door click shut and the crisp sound of Scorpius's shoes against the wooden floor. She felt the warmth of his body beside her as he took off his own coat, and she moved away and towards the kitchen, her feet already demanding that she take off her high-heeled shoes first.

"Would you like some tea?" she called over her shoulder, already raising the lid of the kettle and pouring some water into it.

"You really don't have to bother, it's absolutely fine if you pretend I'm not even here."

_As if that's possible._

"It's my job as a hostess to make sure my guest is comfortable. So, do you want some tea or not?"

"Yes, I would love some, thank you," came the soft reply, as he eyed the carpet thoughtfully and then, his shoes.

She waved her wand and Summoned two pair of slippers. "You can wear the white ones," she said as she stirred the water in the kettle with her wand, watching it turn dark and begin to boil.

She heard him snort and glanced over her shoulder with pursed lips. "Are they not to your liking, Master Malfoy?" she asked sweetly and he chuckled, throwing her a grin that threw off her irritation.

"It's just that I'm not in the least bit surprised that you have an extra pair of indoor footwear."

"Of course. Hugo and Al always visit whenever they please, so I have a pair ready just in case."

"And your dad?"

She didn't reply immediately, as she continued to stir, letting the gentle aroma of the tea relax her. She heard him pad his way to the counter and perch on the barstool, and she placed the kettle on a tray along with two teacups and made her way to him. She could feel the intensity of his gaze on her as she diligently busied herself in the task of pouring the tea.

"Dad doesn't come very often," she finally said slowly as she turned the handle of his teacup toward him.

"Oh," was his only reply, as he thanked her and raised it to his lips. She placed the kettle down and stared at her own teacup as the steaming liquid swirled around. She knew he hadn't meant to, but he had brought up a topic that she consciously made sure not to think about and now that he had brought it up, she knew she wouldn't be able to just leave it alone.

"I don't go home very often," she told her teacup, stroking the handle gently. "Mum is always demanding that I do, but somehow or the other, I don't have the time of day, and even if I do… he's never there whenever I visit, anyway. Or he arrives just as I'm about to leave. Although he gave up on being an Auror, he still works undercover for Uncle Harry a lot – that and managing the shop… he's got enough on his plate as it is."

"Your mum doesn't visit?" he asked her after a time and she shook her head slightly.

"Mum respects my privacy. I'm like her when it comes to that. She knows that I don't like it when she forces herself on me uninvited, especially when I'm busy or exhausted. She gets what holding an important position in the Ministry is like."

"Yet she insists that you go home?"

Staring at her rapidly cooling tea, she wondered why in Merlin's name she was telling Scorpius Malfoy – who she had just had a very awkward day with, what with the almost-kiss, almost being caught, their almost-row, and then her snapping that since she had already agreed to let him stay, she would, being a woman of her word – her sob story.

"She only does that to let me know that I always have a place to return to other than this empty apartment," she said softly, her eyes burning when she thought about the last time she spoke with her mother. Hermione hadn't contacted her after she stormed out on her, except when she had sent the cookies she had baked and the scarf Ron had bought for Rose, a note attached to each, asking that she come home—as always.

"It's alright to take a few days off every now and then, you know," Scorpius said slowly and she finally looked up at him, swallowing back her tears.

"Absolutely not," she refused, wincing slightly when her voice shook. He smiled sadly at her.

"Rose, I'm here now. There's no need for you to push yourself to breaking point."

"But Renée isn't, and I can't just leave Lucas all to you. I barely know what he's capable of and he hasn't a clue on the workings of the department."

"He's moving into our joint office tomorrow. I'll make sure to show him the ropes."

"But," she said and he reached forward to touch her cheek. She immediately drew back and his eyes flashed, like he had been stung, and he let his hand drop.

"Why don't you take the rest of the week off? Meet Renée. Go home. Go visit your dad in the shop. Spend some time with your family."

"But, it's only Wednesday—"

"Rose, please," he said, his eyes taking on the same solemn look of complete honesty. She swallowed. He really did care about her.

"But, you're staying here now…"

He smiled and leaned back. "If I start on the renovations tomorrow, as planned, what with moving office and teaching Lucas the ways of the world, I'm sure I won't have a moment's time to spare. Barely enough to come home."

Her stomach did a funny little dance when she heard the word _home_ leave his lips. He never called his own home, _home_. He never called the living quarters where he'd been staying, _home_. But her house, that he'd only come once or twice to, he was calling home. She looked down and laughed quietly, seeing him shift out of the corner of her eyes.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah, alright." She nodded, causing his eyes to widen and his face to split into a grin.

"Wow, that was unnaturally easy."

"I suppose that converting the library and living quarters _is_ going to be a mighty pain in the arse in itself, not to mention all the pending paperwork I have from Renée abruptly leaving."

"She's coming back next week, though, isn't she?"

"Yes, she doesn't have a choice – following protocol and all. I only let her take the week off because of the engagement. She'll be coming back next week till the end of the month. She already offered to take Lucas under her wing and teach him everything he needs to know, so you'll have him off your back earlier than later."

"I don't mind, really," he said with a shrug. "He could be fun to tease."

"Scorpius!" she admonished and he laughed—a pleasing, carefree sound. She'd never seen him laugh so wholeheartedly before.

"What?" he asked, as he dabbed at his eyes and she shook her head.

"I was just thinking that this is so different than when we were at Hogwarts. I wouldn't have _dreamed_ of sitting in my house and laughing with you like this, back then."

"Yeah," he said lightly, his eyes glinting with a far-off look of yearning. It immediately vanished as he grinned at her and waggled his eyebrows. "So you're saying you're glad that I forced myself on you, eh?"

She rolled her eyes but couldn't hide her smile. "Don't be mistaken. I _let_ you force yourself on me. There's a difference."

"Of course," he replied, bringing his hand to his chest and bowing.

She giggled and smacked his head, making him gasp in mock indignation. She threw her head back and laughed, suddenly feeling her throat constrict and tears collect in her eyes. She laughed and sniffed, feeling completely stupid, as she brushed away the tears and chuckled at his look of concern.

"I'm only tired. You better get used to my random mood swings, if you're going to live with me."

His eyes darkened thoughtfully and she belatedly realised what she had said, but she was too overcome to bother, just then. He walked around the counter to her and held his hand out unsurely. She slapped it with a laugh and stepped up to him, leaning her forehead against his chest. When she felt his strong arms wrap around her, she sighed and relaxed.

"We are so silly, aren't we?" she mumbled against his chest and she smiled when his chest vibrated as he chuckled quietly.

"Haven't we always been?"

She slowly pulled back to look at him and he smiled questioningly down at her. "I think I may have been wrong," she murmured thoughtfully and he raised his eyebrows.

"About what?" he asked, and she could hear the hint of panic in his voice.

Her eyes drifted down to his lips and she shook her head slightly. "About everything."

And she leaned up and pressed her lips softly to his, sighing when he drew her against him and kissed her back. It was a slow, gentle kiss. Nothing at all like the one they had shared before. That one had been overwhelming to a degree of intoxication, with the jumble of emotions like aggression, passion, confusion, desire and everything in between. But this one was intoxicating in its own gentle, warm and tender way – like the lull of the ocean as the waves roll onto the glistening sand, leaving behind its caressing touch.

It was nothing like she had ever imagined and everything like she had ever dreamed off.

When she pulled away, she didn't, really. Their faces were inches apart and she could feel his hot breath mingle with hers. She slowly opened her eyes to look into his clear silver ones. She could see that he had come to the same conclusion as her, from the glittering clarity in his eyes – completely different from the molten grey of thunderclouds that they had seen before.

She smiled slightly when he reached up to brush her bangs out of her eyes and breathed deeply, letting the fullness of her lungs settle against the peaceful warmth that enveloped her.

"What did you mean," he murmured, his hand still brushing back her hair, "when you said you were wrong about everything?"

"I meant that I take back what I said about never expecting to be like this with you."

She knew that her words were vague and were giving him the hope that he desperately seemed to need, but that was how she meant it to be, and she wanted to see if he would be able to grasp it and react to it as she expected him to.

He pushed his fingers slowly through her hair, leaving their warmth along her scalp. "So you knew this would happen?"

She smiled despite herself. How had she ever doubted that he would betray her expectations and fail to play along perfectly with absolutely no hesitation?

"No, but I probably hoped it would, although, I would never have admitted it all my life."

"So why are you admitting it now?" he asked softly, his eyes tracing the contours of her face—the flatness of her forehead, the dip of her eyes, the soft bulge of her cheekbones, the sharpness of her nose, the curve of her lips…

"It wouldn't do this moment justice if I didn't," she replied lightly, feeling like she was being caressed by the clouds and floating through the air as a gentle breeze played across her face.

"I would say I loved you, but that would only do more harm than good."

"Smart."

"I believe I am," he said with a hint of a tease, "after all, I did beat you in every test in every year until the very end."

She pressed her mouth to his then, intent on shutting him up before he ruined the moment. But as he began to kiss back, she pulled away and said with a sparkle in her eye, "But I caught up to you in the end, didn't I?"

That didn't seem to elicit the expected reaction, as his smile softened and he brushed her cheek with his thumb. "Oh, but you are so wrong, Miss Weasley."

"Am I?" she asked, hearing the familiar challenge in her voice even as she cursed herself for her stubbornness to let it go. She didn't want the moment to end. Not yet.

Not yet.

"Yes," he replied, his voice like silk.

"How so?" she asked, consciously removing the bite from it.

"Because the one doing the chasing has always been me, and the one being chased has always been you."

She stared into his eyes, his soft words settling like feathers around her mind. She opened her mouth, but no voice would come out. And even if it did, she could find no words to reply to that. Is that how he had felt about her? All these years? Her heart started to race and she could feel the bubble of calm and solitude around her slowly deflating.

"Scorpius," she said urgently, unsure of what she wanted from him at the moment.

"Shh," he replied, pressing his lips to hers. "Don't ruin it just yet."

And she closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss, reveling at the feel of his lips against hers, at the feel of his palm pressed against the small of her back, at the feel of him gently caressing her auburn curls, at the feel of his broad chest against her, at the feel of his soft, silky locks under her fingers, at the feel of the warmth radiating from him, at the feel of his firm arms around her, at the feel of the complete peace and belonging that enveloped her whole…

She could sense it without even having to think about it. That was where she belonged. In his arms, surrounded by his warmth, allowing herself to let go and trust him completely.

That was where she had always belonged.

From so, so long before.

* * *

**A/n: -sighs- Yes I have waited so long for this. Anybody else notice certain lines in this chappie that are similar to ones from somewhere else in this story?**

**Quite a short chapter but I was so thoroughly satisfied with it that I wanted to leave it be.**

**Thoughts?**


	14. Family

**Chapter 14**

**Family**

* * *

"It's quite unbelievable that he got you to _listen_ to him."

"I agree," Rose said with a smile as she took the plate her mother held out and gingerly placed it on the table.

Hermione glanced at her daughter sideways, glad that she was home and gladder still that she had done so on her own accord – albeit, with a little persuasion.

"So are you two seeing each other now?"

Hermione's brown eyes danced with mirth as Rose almost dropped the jug she was holding, laying it carefully on the table and looking at her mother with wide eyes.

"Mum!"

"Shall I take that as a yes?"

Rose ducked her head and scratched the back of a chair. "It's complicated," she muttered and Hermione hummed as she dried her hands on her apron.

"I see. But you like him, yes?"

"I'm not sure… yet…"

Hermione nodded, glad that Rose had given space for chance instead of shooting it down instantly as she always would have. She reached forward and touched her daughter's hair, smiling at the dampness of it.

"You let your hair to dry out?" she asked, untucking Rose's hair from behind her ear.

"Yeah, I had time so I decided that I didn't want to dry it."

Hermione smiled and nodded as she took off her apron and placed it on the back of a chair.

"Will dad be having dinner with us?" Rose asked, looking out the glass sliding doors at the clear afternoon sky.

"He wasn't going to, but because I said you'd be here, he said he would."

Rose looked thoughtful and then looked at her mother. "Is it alright if I went to see him?"

"At the shop?" Hermione asked with mild surprise. Rose nodded and Hermione shrugged.

"Of course it is, why wouldn't it be?"

"I just thought…" she trailed off, staring at the table. Hermione cupped her cheek.

"Darling, he's you father. No matter what happens, he loves you unconditionally."

Rose smiled softly and nodded, leaning into her mother's warm touch. "Can I go now?"

"Of course you can. Give me a moment, I'll pack something for your uncle."

"He's at the shop too? How come?"

"They just launched a new set of products and George absolutely wanted to be there to handle the sales," Hermione answered with a roll of her eyes.

Rose laughed and took the small box from her mother. Hermione smiled again and Rose looked curiously at her.

"That boy's good for you, Rosie," she said and Rose flushed as she stepped into the floo, her mother's genuinely pleased smile captured in her mind.

* * *

She couldn't help but laugh at the extreme surprise on her father's face as she walked out of the office of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, holding up the lunch box.

"I brought food for uncle George and am here to escort you home in case you decide to escape."

"Rosie?" Ron asked as he continued to gape at her.

"What, did I grow another head or something?"

He laughed slightly and pulled her into a hug, kissing her hair. "I cannot believe you're here!"

"Yes, I can see that," she laughed as her uncle poked his head out from the backroom curiously.

"Well, well, well! If isn't little Miss important!"

Rose raised her eyebrows at her dad and he rolled his eyes. She laughed as George hugged her and snatched the box from her, eagerly prying it open.

"Will you look at that! Your wife's such a darling, Ron. Maybe I should've married _her_ instead of mine," he said, stuffing his mouth with potato crisps and exclaiming in delight.

"Yeah, why don't we trade, if you're so eager," Ron replied drily, making Rose grin.

"Come on dad, she's not all bad."

"Oh yeah? Now tell me she isn't why you ran away from home."

"I didn't _run away_, I only moved out," Rose answered with pursed lips, feeling the familiar argument commencing.

"Same difference," Ron said with a wave of his hand and then grinned at her. "So how long are you staying?"

"Until tomorrow afternoon, I think. Hugh said he might be able to take some time off to visit so I decided it'd be nice to spend some time with all of you."

Ron wiped a nonexistent tear from his eye and George patted him on the back, nodding in understanding. Rose rolled her eyes and looked at her uncle.

"So mum tells me you've created some great new stuff?"

* * *

"Oh _brilliant!_ Just on time!"

"For what?" Ron asked as he bent down to kiss his wife.

"Hugo said he could make it for dinner," she replied, clapping her hands and bouncing up and down.

Rose smiled as Ron looked startled at the news. "Really? He isn't skipping practice, is he?"

"Oh hush, Ron, one or two practices don't matter."

"But the last game of the season is soon!"

"Ronald, do you want dinner or not?"

Ron grumbled and headed to the couch, ruffling his now grey streaked hair free of soot.

"Uncle loved the food," Rose told Hermione as she handed her the empty box and stepped out of the fireplace.

"Oh, wonderful! Maybe I should cook for him more often!"

"How come you never send _me _lunch?" Ron grouched from where he sat squinting at the television. Rose had almost had a stroke when Ron had insisted they buy the idiotic Muggle device, but Hermione being Muggle-born, it wasn't that odd, considering both her and Hugo had been raised with knowledge of the ways of both Muggles and Wizards.

"Because you never appreciate it half as much, always grumbling about how you've to heat it and it's not nearly as good as when it's fresh."

"You can come and give it to me like you did George," Ron argued and Hermione thwacked him on the head.

"Just because I decided to work from home, doesn't mean I sit around doing nothing all day! Besides, if you want fresh food, why not come home instead of cribbing about it?"

Rose hid her smile as she sat beside her father, enjoying the familiar argument between her parents. It was nice to listen to once in a while, but on a daily basis… she would have gone mental if she hadn't left.

"Rosie, tell your father what an ungrateful fellow he is!" Hermione demanded and Rose picked up the remote to change the channel.

"Dad, mum's right. You should come home for dinner if you want fresh food. And mum, dad really does love your cooking, he just isn't very good at admitting it," she said, pausing in her channel changing as a baby polar bear appeared on the screen.

"See!" Ron said to Hermione – who huffed and walked away.

"Be glad you have such a diplomatic daughter who took after me!" she called over her shoulder and Ron frowned and crossed his arms.

"Good thing she has _my_ looks and not _yours,_" he muttered and Hermione placed something down with a bang.

"Did you say something, Ronald?"

"Absolutely not!" he shouted, squinting at the screen again. "What _is _that adorable little thing?"

"A baby polar bear, and dad, have you gotten your eyes tested recently?"

"Why, my eyes are perfectly fine! Besides, I don't like those ocllumentologists-watchamacallthem."

"Ophthalmologists," Rose said, rolling her eyes and waved her hand in front of his face. "You're squinting at the screen. Can you see clearly?"

"It's only blurred around the edges, nothing to worry yourself about." Ron waved her off, leaning forward and frowning. Rose turned off the TV and turned to face him.

"Why'd you do that for? I was watching it!"

"Dad, watching the telly when your eyes are bad will only make it worse," she said strictly as she wagged a finger at him. "Mum, will you take dad to the ophthalmologist when you have the time?"

"Tell that great old prat to agree to come and not make me drag his sorry arse all the way through town." came the immediate reply.

"I'm not old and my arse isn't sorry!"

"_That's _what you're going to fight about?" Rose asked with a sigh, already tired of her parents' pigheadedness. She walked up to help her mother when the telephone went off. She stared at the little black thing and then raised her eyebrows when neither of her parents seemed very inclined to answer it.

"Aren't you going to get that?"

"It's probably your grandpa shouting himself hoarse. No one needs him to lose his voice as well," Hermione said mildly, Levitating the food onto the table.

"What if it's some one else?"

"Like who?" Ron laughed, coming to sit down. "Nobody else calls us using that ridiculous Muggle contraption."

Rose rolled her eyes, walking to the telephone herself, the incessant ringing getting on her nerves. Her father reminded her of Renée—disregarding one thing as a useless Muggle contraption and revering another like it was the greatest discovery of Mugglekind.

"Good afternoon, you've reached the Weasleys," she chirped into the receiver.

"You've always wanted to do that, haven't you?" came the laughing voice.

"Hugh! What's going on? Why're you calling through Muggle phone?"

"I'm actually at Lily's right now and we all know how dear Nicky here feels about firecalling. And don't call me Hugh! It's Hugo!"

Rose ignored the usual response to her nickname for her brother and leaned against the table, feeling her parents' curious gaze on her. "So when're you coming? We're starting already."

"I'll be a while, have to catch the train—"

"Hugo, you can Apparate even if you can't floo, you know."

"And get myself splinched? No thanks!"

"That was years ago! You're obviously better at it now!"

"PTSD, dear sister. I'll be an hour at the most, don't wait for me. Bye!"

And the line went dead. She sighed and placed the receiver down, walking back to the table.

"Was that Hugo? Is he at Lily's?" Hermione asked, smacking her husband's hand as he reached for the food.

"Yeah, he said he'll be an hour."

"That long? Is he still scared about Apparating, that little wimp?"

Rose rolled her eyes at her father and sat down, pulling the bowl of mashed potato out of his reach. "PTSD, apparently. The things that boy comes up with."

Ron glowered at his wife and daughter and sullenly retracted his hand. "What's this PTSD nonsense, then? Some new disease he's concocted?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Ron, you can't concoct a disease," Hermione admonished, finally giving into his sulking and serving him a dollop of the mash. "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's a psychological illness—"

"Aha! So it's a disease after all!"

Mother and daughter shared a look as Hermione sat down across from Rose. "Well, we'll just have to start without him, then."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he'll stop for a bite along the way anyway," Rose replied, serving herself some mash and crisps. "What's with all the potato?"

"Your grandma sent us all tons. Apparently she planted her whole garden full of them to use that new Fast Growing Seed potion that's all the rage now."

"Why potatoes? They're not even seeds."

"Who cares, at least we can have mash three times a day, now. Four, if your mother wasn't so stingy," Ron said, stuffing his mouth with said mash.

"And who is it that's going to have to take care of you when you fall ill? Your mother isn't going to, I'll tell you that much."

"Dun' baffmouf mum!" Ron said crossly, spraying Hermione with saliva and food.

"Eargh disgusting!" Hermione shouted, Scouring herself and then poking Ron hard with her wand. He shouted in pain and gagged, immediately causing Hermione to reach for him in concern. He grinned toothily at her and winked. Rose watched in amusement as Hermione's face went red and she Vanished the food from Ron's plate, leaving the latter staring at his now perfectly clean plate with a mortified expression on his face.

"C'mon, 'Mione, I was only teasing!"

"No more mash for you!" Hermione said, Vanishing the entire bowl full, making Ron whimper pitifully.

"My mash!"

Rose sat back and laughed as the standard row began with both her parents shouting at the top of their lungs. She Conjured two earplugs and plugged her ears, smiling contentedly as she scooped the mash and placed it in her mouth, humming at the familiar taste of her mother's cooking.

She looked up from her plate and saw a tawny owl hovering outside the sliding doors, looking thoroughly displeased. She made her way to the door and slid one open, unplugging one ear as the owl screeched angrily and landed on the closest chair, ruffling its feathers and fixing wide, enraged eyes on the three of them. She Summoned the crisps from her plate and held them out to the owl. It eyed them for a moment and turned away, fluffing its feathers and fixing a disapproving eye on her.

She snorted. She knew exactly who the owl belonged to. She leaned forwards and smiled when it took a step back. "May I have the letter?" she asked sweetly, smiling and waiting as the owl regarded her for a long moment and blinking slowly, stuck its leg out, raising its head regally. She untied the small piece of parchment from it and rolled it out, skimming its contents quickly.

It was barely five lines long, and read:

_Office transfer complete. Taken the newbie under my wing until his rightful master arrives. I took the liberty of rearranging your office. Hope you don't mind too much. Renovations progressing smoothly, although the Maintenance crew wasn't too pleased when I asked if they could finish by the weekend. They'll still do it, though._

She stared at Scorpius's familiar handwriting, suddenly realising that it had been so long since she had seen it. Not since the time she read his essay in his application letter over five years ago. She touched it lightly and saw the tiny postscript at the very corner of the parchment.

_P.s, I miss you._

She smiled despite herself and felt herself flush. It was very sweet, especially coming from him, and she immediately Summoned her Self-Inking quill that she always kept on her at all times. She flipped the parchment over and scribbled her reply on the back.

_Good to see that you're being responsible and doing your work instead of being laid back and lazy. Tell the crew that tomorrow's lunch is on me, that'll definitely be enough compensation. And I shall see about my office. I may have to redo it since Renée is coming back, but I appreciate the thought. Thank you, Scorpius._

She twiddled the quill as she bit her lip, wondering what to reply to the postscript. She was too embarrassed and bigheaded to say that she missed him too. His owl squawked angrily and shook its still extended leg, eyeing her with clear disapproval. She snorted and quickly scribbled out her postscript.

_P.s, I think your owl doesn't like me very much. See you soon. Love, Rose._

She rolled it up and tied it to the extended leg. "There, happy now?" she asked the owl and it clacked its beak at her. She held out a crisp and raised her eyebrows. It cocked its head to the side twice and then with another clack, swiftly pecked it out of her fingers, ruffled its feathers and with a final pompous look, took off, gliding smoothly out the door.

_Just like her owner, _Rose thought smugly as she slid the glass shut.

"Who was that from?" Ron asked as she sat back down. She scooped some mash before answering.

"Scorpius."

There was a long pause as she chewed slowly, not looking at her father. "Scorpius who?" he finally asked.

She looked up to see her mother roll her eyes and shake her head.

"Scorpius Malfoy."

"Ohh that fellow who works for you, who you order around?"

Hermione looked like she wanted to throw the carrot stick in her hand at her husband.

"I don't really order him around," Rose said and saw the way her father's shoulders slumped. "Not all the time," she added and smiled as he immediately perked up. Hermione looked like she was trying to remember that the carrot stick went into her mouth and not anywhere else.

"Good, good," Ron said, nodding with satisfaction.

"What did the letter say?" Hermione asked, serving her husband a large serving of mash that she had apparently made to reappear – probably to keep him occupied.

"Nothing, really, just letting me know of the renovation's progress."

"Renovation?" her mother asked, frowning slightly.

"Nothing major, simply shifting around rooms so as to accommodate the new library."

"Oh, yes, I heard you shifted all R&amp;E related material. About time someone did that. The other departments should follow your example and do the same for their own data. It's such a hassle to have to keep waiting for permission every time you want something from the Level 4 or 5 archives," Hermione groused, tucking her hair rather forcefully behind her ear.

"You don't have full clearance?" Rose asked in confusion. Her mother held a rather high position in the Ministry – almost on the same level as the Unspeakables.

"Oh yes, of course _I _have clearance, but I'm talking about those who don't," she said, waving her spoon.

"That's my 'Mione, always concerned about us common folk," Ron said, beaming at his wife.

"Oh, rubbish," Hermione replied, although she looked pleased.

After about a half hour, Hugo arrived and immediately headed for the food, and Rose sat watching Hermione knit a multicoloured scarf – or rather, watched her mother hum as the scarf knit itself, although her control over it was flawless, considering all the years of practice she'd gotten – listening to her brother and father excitedly discuss the upcoming Quidditch tournament Hugo was to participate in.

She finally stood and excused herself as Ron and Hugo started to debate on whether some Quidditch technique was as difficult as it looked or not, yawning as she trudged up the stairs, feeling pleasantly full and sleepy although it was barely ten PM. She opened the door to her room carefully, squinting into the darkness and sniffing to smell the telltale scent of dust. When she didn't find any, she flicked her wand, turning the lights on and flopped back on her bed, sighing contentedly.

She stared up at her peach coloured ceiling and her eyes were slowly closing shut when the small fireplace in her room crackled. She started and sat up, staring wide-eyed at it as green flames spat out of the embers and then settled to form Scorpius's face. She immediately knelt down and stuck her head in with a worried expression when she saw the solemn look on his face.

"Scorpius? What's wrong?"

"Nothing as far as I know, but you may want to visit your uncle while you're away."

"My uncle? Which one?"

"The Auror."

"Uncle Harry? Why, is something the matter?"

"Remember good ol' Wernicks?"

"He didn't escape, did he?"

"No," Scorpius smiled gravely, "he killed himself."

* * *

**A/n: Hullo! I rather liked writing this chapter because I wanted to write one with the whole family together. Although, all the Romione made me cringe [I've been turned into a complete anti-Romione person for various reasons] but I liked that it was rather light and fluffy.**

**And of course, the cliffie! [Don't shoot me pls]**

**A penny for your thoughts and a ginormous digital cookie for your reviews! And of course, my love!**


	15. Unprecedented Turn of Events (And Renée)

**Chapter 15**

**Unprecedented Turn Of Events**

**(And Renée)**

* * *

"Rose? What is it? I can't talk right now—"

"Uncle Harry, please! I'll only be a moment—"

"Can this wait, I've got places to be—"

"Please _listen_ to me, I swear I'll only take a moment!"

Harry stared up at her through the embers, his lips pressed together in annoyance. He finally nodded once and Rose instantly relaxed.

"I heard that Mister Wernicks…" she trailed off, unable to bring herself to say the words out loud.

Harry sighed. "Who told you?"

"I don't think that matters at the moment. Can you tell me anything about it? I hear it's suicide."

"It might be," Harry replied vaguely, glancing to the side as though to make sure no one was listening. "But we can't be sure yet. I'm heading to the scene right now—"

"May I come along? I promise I'll stay out of the way."

"Rose," Harry said through gritted teeth and she knew he was trying very hard not to snap at her.

"He worked under me for the past half decade, uncle. I may be of some use."

Harry regarded her with a strained expression and after an uncomfortably long pause, finally nodded once very begrudgingly. "But I shall have you leave even at the slightest incidence that arises concern. You have exactly five minutes."

"Of course," she agreed and he inclined his head and disappeared from the fire. She took a deep breath and held it, closing her eyes and immediately seeing Wernicks' horrified expression of utter hopelessness as she told him he was fired, appear on the back of her eyelids. She sighed long and deep, standing up slowly and dusting her jeans.

She stepped into her most comfortable pair of slip-on shoes, tied her hair loosely to one side and pulled on a jacket, stuffing her wand into the back pocket of her jeans and tucking it securely under her shirt. She walked down the stairs to where her parents were sitting out on the balcony – her mother reading while her father skimmed the Daily Prophet.

"I'm going to see Uncle Harry," she said breathlessly, touching them both on the shoulder and climbing down the two wooden steps that opened out to the garden.

"Harry? This early? Is something the matter?"

Rose looked back at her mother and offered her a small smile. "Nothing for concern. Just following up on something."

Hermione didn't look the least bit convinced and even Ron was starting to look curious, so she stepped backwards quickly, and then spinning on the spot, Apparated.

She stumbled when she came to a stop, reaching out and grabbing onto the first thing within arm's reach – which turned out to be an Auror fully clad in some crackly material that looked weirdly like Muggles plastic.

"Sorry," she said awkwardly, backing away and turning around, her eyes scanning the small white house for her uncle. She stepped around two Aurors kneeling down on the grass, busy scrutinising a leaf in one's hands, as she climbed the porch steps and entered through the front door. She nodded to the two Aurors stationed slightly inside and walked swiftly past, using their momentary confusion to her advantage. She luckily spotter her uncle before the two caught up with her.

"Uncle!" she said more loudly than she had intended to, making the three Aurors bending down beside Harry jump and goggle at her.

"Rose," Harry replied mildly and she smiled sheepishly at him, throwing apologetic looks to the trio.

"Is that where you found him?" she asked, jerking her chin towards the knobby, human-shaped outline glowing on the wooden floor where the carpet had been rolled back.

"Yeah," Harry replied, stepping aside to let two of the three Aurors bustle past, a small baggie clutched tightly in one's hands.

"Felix," Harry said and the Auror who was still squatting on the floor raised his head. "I'm sure you know my niece, Rose?"

"'Course, who doesn'?" he answered with a wide grin, standing up and extending a gloved hand to her. "Felix Creekmore at your service, m' lady."

"Creekmore?" Rose asked curiously, shaking the man's hand.

"Ah, I see that you know me gran'pappy, eh? Quite a crazy fellow that one," Felix replied with a jovial chuckle, tucking his thumb in his belt. Rose smiled back, slightly confused as to how this man, who had just been frowning down at a crime scene with the utmost concentration, could suddenly turn into a happy-go-lucky, next-door-neighbour sort of person in the next instant.

"Felix, care to enlighten Rose here on the proceedings? I'm going to go see if Moose tripped on any leads," Harry said, clapping the younger man on his shoulder.

"Aye sir," Felix replied with a tip of his imaginary hat.

"Moose?" Rose asked with raised eyebrows, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Felix laughed and moved aside, giving her space so she could stand in the center of the room. "Laxus Moseby. He's the in-charge on this case. Righ' big clumsy oaf, he is, trippin' over his own feet if there's nothin' to trip him."

"I see," Rose replied distractedly, her eyes having spotted a broken glass paperweight lying beside the table. "What's this?"

"Some Muggle rubbish tha' his wife apparently forced him to buy her when they'd gone a visitin' the in-laws. Must've fallen over when the fellows moved the body."

"So it's not…" she trailed off, gesturing with her hands.

Felix raised his eyebrows at her. "Is not what he used to kill himself? Nay, not at all. No blood trace."

"He really did kill himself, then?"

The blond glanced towards the door where the duo stationed there were glaring at them and turning away from them, said in a low voice, "Keep this just between the two o' us, miss, bu' I suspect it may've been a homicide."

"He was murdered?" Rose squeaked and Felix narrowed his eyes at her in warning. She ducked her head and tucked her hair behind her ear, moving around the table and squatting beside the broken shards of glass. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, for starters, he was under house arrest. Although he didn't seem like a threat, he wasn' exactly being very compliant either, so we decided to keep him under constant watch until he cracked. We thought we'd gotten to him, when his wife suddenly popped up outta nowhere. The Auror who was assigned to watch him took a good ten minutes to get rid of her and by the time he turned around, Wernicks was lying on the floor, dead.

"Of course, Will panicked and tried to resuscitate him and everythin', but had no luck with that. The ol' man had properly kicked the bucket, he had. So Will contacted us immediately and four of us – me included – headed over to sweep the scene for clues."

"Wait, an Auror was _in_ the house when he died? How is that possible? Wouldn't he have heard Wernicks try to kill himself?"

"That's the thing, miss," Felix said, his voice dropping to take on a disturbingly horror-themed tone, "Will swears he didn' hear nothin' and he even offered to drink Veritaserum to prove his innocence."

"But if Will – is it – didn't kill Wernicks, and the latter killed himself, then why is this a crime scene at all? And why is there a suspicion of murder?"

"Like I said, miss, we haven' found a single clue yet. We've been lookin' for a good twelve hours now, but there's absolutely nothin' here tha' would support either assumption."

Rose looked up at Felix, startled. "Wait, you've found absolutely _nothing?"_

"Tha's right."

"But—that's impossible! If he used a spell and somehow muffled it so Will wouldn't hear, then that would make sense, right?"

"Not even the faintest Spell Trace on the body," Felix replied, his voice almost bored.

"Then—then what about a potion? Or a powder, or a plant, or something?"

"Nope, nein, non," Felix answered, running a hand through his hair and smiling mysteriously at Rose. "We didn' find a single trace of any substance – liquid, solid or gaseous, for that matter – on or in the body."

"But," Rose said, dumbfounded. "That means he just… _dropped dead?"_

Felix shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, miss."

"Don't tell me you haven't any idea _at all?"_ she asked him incredulously, completely unconvinced that a trained Auror was telling her that his guess regarding the death of a man was as good as hers.

"Well, some of us are guessin' seein' his wife was shock enough to stop his heart, which is probably the closest we're gonna get to a reasonable explanation if we don' find anythin' in the next twelve hours."

"You'll stop the investigation if you can't find anything in half a day? Isn't that too little time? What if there's something you've missed or overlooked—"

"Well _I_ won't be doin' anythin' more than following orders," Felix told her with an indulgent smile. "You seem quite perturbed by this, miss. Was he someone you knew personally?"

"Not personally, no," she sighed, massaging her temple.

"A business acquaintance, then?"

"He used to work for me," she replied tiredly, already feeling claustrophobic.

"Ah, tha's right, you fired him a while back, din'tchu?"

"I did," she admitted, looking down at the broken paperweight one last time. "If you'll excuse me," she said to Felix with a smile and he inclined his head. She stepped around the glowing silhouette and almost ran out the door, feeling the two Aurors' intense gazes on her.

She found her uncle behind the house, talking with a thoroughly harassed looking Auror she surmised was probably Will.

"Found anything that might facilitate the investigation?" Harry asked her with an amused twinkle in his tired eyes.

"Actually, I find that I'm more confused now than I was before I came here," she replied evenly, smiling when Will looked at her. "You must be William. Hi, I'm Rose."

She held her arm out to him and he took it, shaking it once. "I'll go see if there's anything I missed, sir," he told Harry quietly and bowing his head, walked around Rose.

"He's unnaturally disturbed by this whole thing, isn't he?" she asked thoughtfully, watching Will stop and talk to an older Auror.

"I don't blame him, really. His family moved away before the War and he only just passed his Auror training. This was only supposed to be a Pro Bono assignment that went horribly wrong. Not to mention the fact that the man died under his watch – anyone would be shaken up by that."

"Yeah," Rose said softly, staring at the wilting flowers and cracked pots lined around the house. She suddenly frowned and noticing her gaze, Harry turned to look.

"Ah, that. Apparently he and his wife were in the middle of a long and tedious divorce. Another reason why we have chance to suspect that his death can go either way."

"You're buying into the whole 'he died from the shock of seeing his wife' story?" Rose asked in disbelief, turning to stare up at her uncle.

Harry laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I wouldn't blame him if he had. That woman is a terror."

"That bad?"

"Worse," he replied with a wry smile. Rose was just about to say something when Harry's name was called and he raised a hand to signal that he was coming.

"Rosie, there's nothing for you here. Why don't you go back home and get some sleep? You look like you're the one on whose watch Wernicks died."

"Please do not ever say that again," she said acridly and he chuckled, patting her head.

"Go home, love. Rest assured that I shall get to the bottom of this even if there's no bottom to get to."

She looked up into her uncle's kind emerald eyes and nodded slightly, his large palm warm atop her head. "Thank you," she choked and he smiled, patting her hair one last time before walking away.

"Give your parents my love!" he called over his shoulder with a wave as she spun on the spot and Dispparated in a swirl of dried leaves and mud.

* * *

When she woke up, it was to the familiar sound of Renée's obnoxiously obtrusive voice and her cold finger poking incessantly at Rose's cheek as she chanted, "Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up—"

"_Shut up, I'm awake!"_

"Oh, good," Renée said pompously, sitting back and fluffing her hair. "I was worried you'd passed on like our dear friend."

"Is Scorpius bloody _advertising _his death?" Rose groused, kicking Renée off the bed as she put her feet down.

"It's a good thing you wear indoor footwear," Renée commented, staring at Rose's feet as she dusted nonexistent dirt off her skinny pants.

"Why are you here?" Rose groaned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and giving her friend a once over. "And why in Merlin's name are you dressed like that?"

"How rude!" Renée replied crossly, putting her weight on one leg so she could kick Rose with the other. "Do not admonish my superior fashion sense, you peasant!"

"Right, sorry," Rose said with a roll of her eyes, standing up to wash her face. Renée followed into the cozy bathroom, looking at her own reflection over Rose's shoulder.

"Hm, maybe I over did it a little bit with the lipstick. Only a little," she clarified adamantly as Rose gave her a look in the mirror.

As she dried her face, she glanced at Renée's fancy stilettoes, embroidered blouse and high waist pants, coupled with a simple gold chain-link necklace and matching gold earrings, watch and bracelet – not to mention the dull ochre coat that hung casually from her shoulders and the unnecessary pair of sunglasses perched atop her head.

"You can admire my extraordinary beauty once we get you out of those ridiculous clothes," Renée chirped, showing off her manicured nails and jiggling her matching purse.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Forgive this peasant as she does not have the Galleons or the need to purchase showy clothes and accessories."

"Nonsense," Renée quipped, rummaging through the unnecessarily large wardrobe beside the wall-length windows. "Do not blame your inferior taste in fashion on your abundantly brimming wallet or your pigheaded attitude toward sophistication."

Rose made a face and mouthed at her reflection in the dressing mirror as Renée made an approving sound and threw half a dozen clothes on the bed.

"Here, try these on," she ordered, motioning to the clothes that looked highly inappropriate even for whatever she had planned for the two of them.

"Do I have to?" Rose whined, picking up the tight looking pencil skirt that had an outrageously high slit at the back. "What is this horrid looking thing and what did you bribe me with to buy this?" she demanded, frowning suspiciously at the rest of the clothes the brunette had laid out.

"_Why _I am friends with you is beyond me," Renée said as she picked up a shimmering, sleeveless, bronze top and held it against Rose. "My goodness, you should be glad that I decided to be. You'll look ravishing in this."

Rose pulled a face and slumped her shoulder, opening her mouth and running her tongue across her upper teeth. She watched with satisfaction as Renée's eyes widened in horror.

"Stop that this instant, you crude woman!"

"If I'm so crude, why _are _you my friend?" Rose asked cheerily, making a fish mouth and waggling her eyebrows.

"If only Scorpius could see you like this," Renée sighed, shaking her head and making a pitiful face. "He would come running to me in an instant."

"You have a fiancé," Rose reminded her as Renée shepherded her off into the bathroom.

"Not yet, I don't. At least, not officially. You better come out in five minutes or I'm breaking down that door!" the brunette called as Rose clicked the bathroom door shut. She held up the skirt and scrunched her nose at it, slipping her comfortable jeans off with a grumble and pulling the cramped garment on while groaning and muttering the entire time. She pulled on the shimmery top, tucked it in, fluffed it so she at least had reasonable breathing space, and stepped out.

Renée clapped her hands in delight and held out the shiny black stilettoes she'd apparently picked – once again – without taking Rose's comfort into consideration in the least. The redhead slipped them on without complaint, used to wearing painful shoes to work, glad for the added height.

"And now for your hair and make-up," Renée sang, pushing the redhead towards the dressing table.

"_Noo!"_ Rose whined in horror, knowing that Renée dressing her up like that could only mean one thing. "_Please _tell me you're not planning on taking me to one of those outrageous parties hosted by your upper crust fiends!"

"Oh, how you read me like a book. It makes my heart flutter so," Renée said in a giggly voice, slapping Rose's hand when the latter reached up to touch her hair. Rose stuck her lover lip out and sulked the whole half hour Renée had her way with her face and hair and finally opened her eyes when the brunette stepped back with a hum of approval.

"Stand up and take a good look at yourself, because I say woman, you make one fine lady," Renée said ostentatiously, making a mewing sound and clawing at the air.

Rose rolled her eyes and turned to look at her reflection. She blinked long and slow as she gawked at the drop-dead gorgeous woman staring back at her. "I am so going to regret this," she muttered under her breath, even as she looked at herself from different angles.

"I heard that, you ungrateful wench! Well, as long as you accompany me until morning come, you can curse me how much ever you please."

"Wait, we're staying out _all night? _Renée, don't be ridiculous, your engagement is the day after!"

"Precisely why we are partying the night away and drinking ourselves into oblivion," Renée said happily, dusting her cheeks with gold.

"At least ask Cole to come along, just to be safe."

"What kind of a girl's night out would it be with a man present? You are so silly sometimes, Rose," the brunette said, smacking her lips and turning to offer Rose a genial smile. "Shall we?" she asked, extending her elbow.

"Let's pray dad has a stroke when he sees me and I have to take him to the hospital," Rose muttered in a low voice as she hooked her arm with Renée's and let the other lead her out the room.

"One moment," Renée said, pausing to tug Rose's skirt up several inches. "There, _now_ you look like a partyer and not a diplomat."

"This bloody slit is half way up my arse!" Rose protested in a hurried whisper, hooking her finger under the slit in the skirt and pulling it lower.

"Stop being such a pain or I'm going to _accidentally _let it slip that Scorpius Malfoy is living with you," Renée warned from the corner of her mouth as she smiled widely and waved at Rose's family as the duo descended the stairs.

"Don't you dare," Rose whispered back hurriedly as Renée dragged her towards where her parents and brother were goggling at them open-mouthed.

"Oh my, Rose darling, where in the world are you off to?" Hermione asked, her voice uncharacteristically high.

"To my pre-engagement party, Mrs Weasley," Renée answered on Rose's behalf, shooting a sly smile at a gawking Hugo – making him almost fall out of his chair.

"Dressed like that?" Ron choked, his eyes staring up and down his daughter. "I didn't know you even _owned _clothes like that."

"I never wear them," Rose replied quickly, tucking her hair behind her ear uncomfortably and immediately having Renée smack her hand. "That's why I left them behind here."

"I think they look great," Hugo said in awed sort of voice, his eyes never leaving Renée.

"Oh my, how kind of you," Renée replied serenely, batting her eyebrows at Hugo.

"We'll be going then," Rose said hurriedly, dragging the brunette towards the sliding doors.

"When will you be back?" Hermione called after them worriedly.

"Tomorrow!" Rose replied and stood perfectly still as Renée turned on her heel, not wanting to Splinch herself during the Side-along Apparition.

* * *

**A/n: Hello lovelies! So I missed Renée and am glad to see her sassy self here, aren't you? ;D**

**Anyway, in case you're curious about Wernicks...well, don't be, is all I am going to say! Hope you enjoyed this chappie because there are only ten more to go! **

**A penny for your thoughts and a ginormous cookie for your reviews, as always!**

**Lots of love~**


	16. Night Out

**Warning: Some swearing and minor sexual harassment in this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

**Night Out**

* * *

"Rose, are you _listening? _Will you stop gawking and at least _pretend_ like you're from a well-bred family? _What _your mother would say, I don't know."

"Oka—yeah," Rose blustered, snapping her mouth shut but continuing to stare at the spectacular sight before her.

The location of the party had turned out to be an outhouse that was so far away from the main mansion that it was easily accessible to magical folk by means of simple wards and Muggle-repelling spells. It was located on a small hillock and all the walls of the outhouse had been turned to glass for the occasion.

The path that led up to the outhouse had slim, Victorian-styled pillars mounted at exact intervals from one another—their flat, curled tops holding large, floating, clear orbs that seemed to contain hundreds of glowing fireflies in them. Færie lights were strewn across the pillars, zigzagging all the way to the top, where they ended at a magnificent arch, exactly like the one right in front of her. The curved fixture had been decorated completely with the same færie lights with larger orbs placed here and there, the movement of the fireflies refracting the light and playing patterns across the ground.

Renée tugged on her arm and they made their way up the path, Rose setting her features into an expression of ease. As they reached the top, they paused to take in the sheer magnificence of what was in front of them.

The glasshouse had been decorated with nothing but the same Victorian-style pillars of different sizes and shapes, with the same glass orbs hovering over them or higher along the ceiling. Færie lights wound around the pillars and the edges of the walls like creepers, ending in the centre of the ceiling—where a chandelier had been made using smaller versions of the orbs like the ones on the arches, throwing a soft, golden glow onto everything within and without, making everything seem almost surreal.

Long tables were pushed back against the wall at the far back, obviously containing food and drink, and a raised platform had been placed in the middle where a band was playing slow music, surrounded by dancing couples and people enjoying themselves with the gentle sound from the instruments caressing their swaying movements.

"It's beautiful," Rose whispered as Renée reached down to take her hand.

"It is, isn't it?" she replied in a voice that betrayed her awe. "I didn't expect it to be _this_ extraordinary when I decided to drag you along."

"I'm glad you did," Rose said with a smile and Renée immediately snapped out of her daze and with a sparkle in her eyes, began dragging Rose towards the glasshouse.

"Oh, don't be glad just yet. Wait till I introduce you to the host—_then_ you can shower me with your undying gratitude."

"Yes, my lady," Rose replied sarcastically, suddenly feeling underdressed when she saw all the beautifully clothed witches and wizards around her.

"Speaking of which," she said suddenly, eyeing Renée's ensemble. "Aren't you dressed too simply?"

"Well, you can't blame me, I didn't expect it to be an event like _this_," Renée groused, gesturing to everything around them.

"Apparently," Rose agreed as the brunette pulled her to a dark corner near the outskirts of the party. "What are you doing?" she asked curiously as Renée began looking down at herself from different angles.

"Fixing my slight wardrobe malfunction, of course," the brunette replied distractedly, swishing her wand here and there, and Rose watched the golden trail her wand movements left settle down on top of her to form a glimmering skirt that fell around her ankles, the smooth fabric – or whatever it was – shimmering with even the slightest of movement.

"When did you get so good at performing wordless magic of such precision?" Rose asked, the awe clear in her voice.

"It is an absolute necessity when you're of noble birth," Renée replied importantly, Conjuring a golden butterfly barrette and pinning it in her hair. She took off her coat, placed it in Rose's hands, did some extremely complicated wand waving while she muttered under her breath, and Transfigured the coat into a white, crocheted shrug with a high collar that curled back from the base of her neck.

"There, _now_ we can make our grand entrance," she said happily, fluffing her hair.

"Now _I _feel underdressed," Rose grumbled, to which Renée plucked some sort of fruit off the bushes behind them and Transfigured it into a pair of large hoop earrings.

"Wear these," she instructed and Rose stared from the glinting earrings to her friend.

"My ears aren't pierced," she said dumbly and Renée made an exaggerated motion of frustration.

"They're obviously fake, stupid!" she exclaimed and Rose flushed, clipping the hoops to her earlobes. "Yes, fine, you look dashing—now let's go!"

"I really don't think so," Rose whined morosely and Renée pursed her lips at her.

"Pull your skirt up higher then," she snapped and Rose frowned, following after her as the brunette picked her skirt up elegantly, raised her chin high and strode regally into the glasshouse.

She could feel more than a few eyes on them and she rubbed her arm awkwardly, trying not to look nervous and out of place even if those were the only two things she was. Renée – not noticing her friend's sorrow, as usual – waltzed up to the back, where a small group was standing and chattering amicably. As soon as the brunette neared, the single male who was standing amongst the five females looked up and a slow smirk spread across his face, instantly reminding Rose of Scorpius.

_I wish he was here…_

"You made it, Lady Herington!"

"Oh stop, Tristan, I told you not to address me so!"

"Even though you obviously love it?" Tristan replied, his eyebrows raising as he brought Renée's hand to his mouth.

"Oh, Tristan darling, this is the friend I've been telling you about. Rose, come here and introduce yourself to the host," Renée said, turning to Rose with a pointed look.

"Hi, I'm Rose Weasley," she said, almost shocking herself at how smooth her voice sounded and how she naturally held out her hand for the man to kiss – which he did, thank Merlin, she had almost thought he wouldn't.

"My, Renée, you seemed to have failed to mention what a beauty your lady friend was," Tristan said silkily, never taking his eyes off Rose.

"Just as you seemed to have forgotten to inform me that you'd suddenly decided on changing the theme of your party, dear brother."

Although the shock of the revelation caused Rose's heart to thud in her chest and caused her to break out in cold sweat as she suddenly found the immense need to sit down, her smile never faltered, and neither did her relaxed demeanour. She fixed a mildly amused gaze on the brunette, her eyes flashing when Renée gave her a thoroughly unapologetic look.

"Rose, you haven't met my little brother Tristan, have you?" Renée asked sweetly, looping her arm through her brother's.

"No, actually," Rose replied, turning her gaze back to the man in question. Now that she knew the truth of the matter, she could instantly see the familiar physical likenesses between the two. How they're soft, chocolate brown hair framed their face perfectly, how their sharp noses curves softly to high cheekbones, how their dark eyes always seemed to have a hidden agenda behind their shine, how their postures exuded pure confidence and regality – she would have probably have doubted it at least, if not have seen it the second they had been introduced, if she hadn't been trying so hard not to trip and fall.

"It is an absolute delight to finally meet you, Miss Weasley. I've heard so many stories about you," Tristan said smoothly and she realised with mild shock that he was still holding her hand.

"Good stories, I hope," she replied lightly, slipping her hand out of his to adjust her hair, making the action seem natural. The girls behind them started to laugh at something and Tristan immediately turned towards them with an amused smirk.

"Forgive me, ladies, but it would seem that my companions are begging for my attention," he said lowly, leaning towards the two of them. "I hope you enjoy your evening, Rose," he said with a wink and turned away.

"I can_not_ believe you didn't tell me he was your brother!" Rose hissed as they made their way towards the tables with the refreshments.

"It skipped my mind, sorry," Renée said in a monotone, not looking sorry at all.

Although Rose had met Tristan once before, during her sixth year in Hogwarts when she had spent the Easter holidays at Herington Estate, the mousy boy with pudgy cheeks and a round belly hardly looked anything like the dashing young man he now was.

"I'm sure," Rose snapped, picking up a glass of honey-coloured liquid. She drank it in a quick series of gulps, the telltale burn of it affirming her suspicion that it was indeed Firewhiskey.

"Rose! What do you think you're doing!" Renée demanded in a furious whisper, grabbing the empty glass and placing it back on the table, looking around as though to make sure nobody had seen her.

"Exactly what you said," Rose replied with a slight burp, patting her throat and grinning at Renée.

"You _know _how much of a light weight you are! At least sip it like a lady, you fool!"

"My, someone's temper's-a flarin'!" Rose sang, leaning her hip against the table and looking at the brunette through hooded eyes.

Renée pursed her lips and raised her hand to point a finger at Rose. "You stay right here, missy. I am going to send a message to someone."

"Aww, that's why I told you to let Cole tag along," Rose called after her as Renée moved off to the side, pulling her wand out of her sleeve.

Rose reached for another glass of Firewhiskey and swirled it around, smiling at the warm feeling blooming inside her. She really was a lightweight through and through. She glanced to see if Renée was watching out of the corner of her eye and downed the glass, hurriedly placing it in the pile of empty ones as the brunette made her way back and gave Rose a suspicious look.

"Did you steal another drink in the minute I was away?" the brunette asked accusingly and Rose pouted at her.

"How mean! I would never!"

"You are the worst fucking liar to have ever been born among wizard kind," Renée hissed, thrusting a glass of water into Rose's hand with so much force, it splashed onto her top.

"I don't like it when you swear," Rose complained, looking down to see a wet spot bloom over her bosom. Renée swore and flicked her wand, Scouring the wetness away.

"I'm starting to regret bringing you here."

"Ren," Rose drawled, reaching for two glasses of Firewhiskey and holding one out to the brunette. "Who was it that dragged me here against my will with the sole intention of drinking ourselves into oblivion?"

"You might just," Renée replied crossly, begrudgingly taking the glass from Rose's hand.

"Well, there's only one way to fix that," Rose grinned, raising her glass. "To a successful engagement, a wonderful marriage and a beautiful life!"

Renée regarded Rose uncertainly, but the latter could already see that she was giving in. When she chuckled and raised her glass, Rose bounced lightly on the spot and squeezed her arm. "To us," Renée said softly and Rose clinked glasses with her.

"To us," she agreed, tilting her head back and downing the contents. When she looked back, the brunette was scrunching up her face and fluttering her fingers inches from her mouth.

"Argh, I don't know how you just drink this like water," she choked, reaching for the untouched glass of water in Rose's other hand. "I'd rather something smoother!"

"Actually, this one is really smooth," Rose replied, already reaching for two more glasses. "Besides, didn't you say it yourself?"

"Say what?" Renée asked, accepting her second glass without hesitation.

Rose tipped her glass towards Renée and the two gulped down the drink, their hands reaching forwards and clutching each other's to steady them. The came back with a loud sigh, giggling and swaying slightly.

"Looks like you were right after all," Rose giggled as Renée leaned forwards and almost tripped. "It goes down easy after the first couple."

* * *

She wasn't quite sure how many glasses of Firewhiskey she had drunk, nor did she know who it was that had their arms around her as she slowly pulled out of the blurry haze she had drifted into and leaned back to look up at her companion's face.

"Hello and welcome back to the world of the living, Miss Weasley," Tristan said animatedly, making Rose giggle.

"Where's your—sister?" she asked, smoothing her palms that were on his shoulders closer and winding them around his neck. His smirk turned coy and his light, hazel eyes darkened as he slipped his arms fully around her waist and pulled her against him.

"Does it matter?" he asked in a low voice that still held a light quality to it even if it sounded oddly deep.

"It does," Rose said in a pouty voice, playing with the ends of his hair when they brushed against her fingers. "It's supposed to be her pre-engagement girl's night out."

"Oh, she'll be around," Tristan replied off-handedly, turning in a slow circle. Rose breathed through her parted lips, suddenly finding it far too stifling inside the glasshouse.

"It's hot," she murmured, reaching up to fan her hair away from her neck.

"It is indeed," came the silky reply and something about the way he was looking at her with that knowing expression of anticipation and the way his eyes were raking down her body left her feeling thoroughly unsettled.

She pulled away slightly, her breathing heavy, and she was met with dizziness as she realised she couldn't stand on her own without support. Tristan immediately pulled her back against his chest, clucking his tongue softly.

"There's no hurry, love," he said in a voice that sounded oddly like the slithering of a snake, to her ringing ears.

"I'm… really hot," she murmured, pulling the neck of her blouse out and gasping as it peeled away from her body.

"That you are," Tristan replied, his eyes looking greedily down Rose's top – which was obviously a clear sight, as he was almost a head taller than her even in her six-inch shoes.

_Not as tall as Scorpius,_ her mind said and she suddenly frowned, her heart beginning to race.

That's right—even if it wasn't official and even it wasn't going to be for a while, there was definitely something going on between her and Scorpius. Something that she definitely wanted.

"I—I should… go," she stammered, leaning away from him again, almost leaning half over at the waist because he hadn't loosed his grip around her even a bit.

"Come now, there's no need for weariness. I'm your best friend's brother, there's nothing unfamiliar about me."

_Slytherin, _her mind said and she nodded to it. _Definitely Slytherin. Just like him—_

"But not so much," she mumbled, finishing her own thought out loud, squirming in his grasp. Her heart was beating much faster than normal, her body temperature was much higher than normal, her sense of depth and distance was much more skewed than normal, her sense of balance was more off than normal, her vision was blurrier than normal, her ability to think and process information was much lower than normal, and her need to cry and run away was most definitely much greater than normal.

"Please let me go," she sniffed quietly, straining in his hold and grimacing as his nails dug into her back.

"You don't mean that, love," Tristan whispered, jerking her back to him. She fell against his chest like a ragdoll, leaving her winded and vulnerable to his whims.

_No, _she thought, desperately. This was not what she had wanted. This was nothing like the time with Scorpius. Although the two could have been similar if she was sober enough to find the likenesses, she wanted to be with Scorpius. She wanted to have his arms wrap around her. She wanted him to press his mouth to hers. She _wanted _to lose herself into his embrace.

But this, she did not want or desire.

"Please," she said again, trying very hard to raise her head slowly and saw the world teeter around her. "I just need some air."

"The music is still playing, Miss Weasley. It would be rude to the musicians if you were to leave the stage mid-song."

Yes, she remembered Renée telling her something similar years ago when they had still been in school, when she had asked the brunette why she had bothered dancing until the very end with her companion when she obviously didn't want to.

"_It's rude," _the brunette had scolded, "_to leave mid-song when the musicians are obviously putting their heart and souls into making it perfect. It's not their fault my date is lousy, is it?"_

She hadn't understood the reasoning behind it then, and she didn't understand it now.

"I'm sure—they wouldn't mind—if I left for just—a little bit," Rose bit out through gritted teeth as she reached back and tried to pry his arms off her waist.

"But I would, Rose, so I suggest that you listen to me and do as I tell you to."

She froze at the authoritativeness in his voice. It was the exact same as Renée's when she was pissed. _Very _pissed. It made her comply involuntarily, her muddled mind unable to differentiate Tristan's anger from his sister's.

_I don't want to do this anymore! _Her mind told her and she tried to soothe it, but to no avail. _I don't want this! Scorpius, help me! Scorpius!_

She knew it was pointless, trying to call him with her mind, but she dared not do it out loud. Even though she was drunk, she had sense enough to know where she was and who she was dancing with. Although he made her want to hurl, he was still Renée's brother and the last thing she wanted was to get on his bad side. It would cause Renée to choose, and she knew the brunette would choose family over friendship any day. And although she didn't show it a lot, she really did consider Renée a sister.

She whimpered, standing as straight as possible as she didn't have to have any more contact with Tristan's body than needed. Just when she was getting a hang of it, just able to clear her muddled mind, Tristan pulled her sharply against him, twirling around. She swallowed back the bile that rose to her throat, clamping her mouth shut and focusing on her breathing than how the world spun around her.

"That's right, Rose. Just give in to your desires. Tonight is a night for fun, yes? Renée won't mind if you had a little fun of your own. So you don't have to be concerned about her anymore, alright?"

She suddenly realised that he was slowly but surely steering her closer and closer to the edge of the dance floor and to one of the darker and quieter parts of the glasshouse. _What happened to not leaving mid-song!_ She thought angrily, digging her heels into the ground as tried to stop their movement.

That didn't work as well as she had wanted, because he simply swept her off her feet and put her down a few feet from the wall. His hooded eyes had taken on a lustful shine as he drew back and let his eyes rake down her body, caressing it with his lecherous gaze. His mouth eased into a lazy grin as his hand slid down her back to pull up the slit in her skirt.

She stilled, angry tears prickling her eyes as the bile rose back up. She reached back and pinched his skin sharply, making him flinch and immediately pull his hand back.

"What the fuck," he hissed, his eyes widening dangerously.

"Don't touch me," Rose snapped, swallowing when her voice wavered.

"What is this, eh? You throw yourself at me all giggles and sensual touches and now that I finally get in the mood, you back off? Don't fuck with me, wench, you don't get to decide who dances to the music, I do."

She shuddered as he bared his teeth at her, his eyes flashing. He took a step towards her and she immediately took a step back, reaching behind her to feel the coolness of the glass against her burning fingertips.

_Scorpius! _Her mind screamed and she swallowed again, her eyes daring to tear away from his to scan the crowd to see if anyone had noticed them that she could gesture to for help.

"There's no use," he growled, reaching forwards and curling his hand around her neck, jerking her chin up roughly with his thumb. "Everyone's too drunk and too involved in snogging their own companions to notice their host make off with some woman."

Her blood boiled at the way he referred to her as _some woman, _his eyes raking down her again – like she was another one of his _lady friends,_ hanging off his arm while trying to keep constant body contact with him and giggling at everything he said. But, by then, he was pressing her against the wall and she glanced over her shoulder to see that there was quite a steep fall behind her.

"Can't break the glass either, I made sure to reinforce it," he said, snapping her face towards him. "Now, stop resisting and just give in to your desires, Rose."

She struggled to pry his hand from her face as she pushed against him. "Don't—" she gasped, digging her nails into his palm, making him loosen his grip, "—call me by my name."

"Or what," he challenged, smashing her against the glass, making it shudder and tremble, the vibrations resounding through her entire body. "You can't do a single, fucking, thing to me."

He grabbed her chin and twisted her head up, smashing his mouth against hers and forcing his tongue through her gritted teeth. She struggled as he gripped one of her wrists, pounding her free fist against his shoulder. She screamed into his mouth, but it was lost to his tongue and the music that seemed to have somehow gotten louder. Her ears were ringing and her vision was blurring, her body feeling like dead weight atop her legs.

When he pulled back, she gasped painfully, coughing and heaving as she tried to give her lungs much needed oxygen. Her knees trembled weakly under her and she blinked rapidly, tears streaming down her cheeks. She coughed again and her knees gave in, causing her to slide down against the glass. He immediately grabbed her chin and jerked her back up, making her cry out in pain.

"What, don't tell me you've never tried BDSM?"

The words were so foreign. His voice was so foreign. The feel of his fingers gripping her was so foreign. The sharp taste of metal in her mouth was so foreign. The inability to break free and escape was so foreign. The trembling of her knees and the broken sobs that escaped her lips were so foreign. The place was so foreign. The music was so foreign. The fear was so foreign.

In all the horribly foreign things, there seemed to be only one thing that she could find familiar – that she clung onto like a lifeline.

"Scorpius," she croaked and Tristan's eyes widened, his lips curling in anger.

"You _bitch! _How _dare _you speak another man's name in my presence!" he drew his hand back, making to slap her, and she instantly flinched, expecting the sharp sting of his palm against her face – but it never came.

Instead, she was staring up into hard, shimmering, metallic eyes that reminded her of hardened lava from a volcano as it flowed over everything in its path and crushed it beneath its burning wrath.

"Scorpius," she rasped and was rewarded with a grim smile.

"Hello, Rose. I'm here now."

* * *

**A/n: Agh this chapter was frustrating to writeee I really do not like Tristan. SORRY FOR THE CLIFFIES BUT FROM THIS POINT ON THEY WON'T STOP SO YEAH**

**Also I somehow dislike this chapter but meh whatever, drama drama drama.**

**What are your thoughts?**


	17. No One But You

**Chapter 17**

**No One But You**

* * *

"And who do you think you are, eh? Oi, are you _listening_ here? How'd you get past the wards without being invited?"

Scorpius regarded Tristan with mild irritation as he stepped smoothly in between the latter and Rose.

"I didn't," he answered simply, his free hand—that wasn't clamped down on Tristan's arm—reaching back towards her. Rose immediately clung onto it, exhaling shakily as unbounded relief cascaded down on her. She shuddered and pressed her forehead in the space between Scorpius's shoulder blades, breathing in deeply and sighing at his familiar scent—new leather and freshly ground snow.

"Don't give me cheek, bastard," Tristan snapped, his voice having completely lost its smooth, self-important quality to take on an angrier, cruder one that was obviously its true nature.

"I'm not," Scorpius replied in the same mild tone of disinterest. "I only answered your question. I didn't get past the wards without being invited."

"I don't know who you are, but you best be on your way, otherwise—"

"Otherwise you'll be forced to physically have me thrown out?"

Rose raised her head and pulled back slightly so she could peek around Scorpius's shoulder and smile smugly at the dumbfounded look on Tristan's face.

"I—I will!" the younger male replied, although he seemed more inclined to run away as soon as possible.

"Oh yeah? You and what army?*"

Rose's head snapped to the side, her immense relief turning profound at the welcome sight of her friend. And the other didn't look the least bit impressed.

"Renée? What—how—"

"Did you honestly think you could simply try to trick me into getting drunk out of my mind and leaving with some bloke you'd paid off to whisk me away? Don't joke with me _brat._"

She spat out the last word, her face twisting into a snarl as she reached forwards and slapped Tristan across his face. "And that, you disgusting piece of shite, is for Rose."

Tristan stood frozen for a moment and then turned tail and ran—Rose could almost hear him howling like a wounded animal.

Exhaustion, coupled with her drunken state and her narrow escape, caused her knees to buckle and she dropped like a sack of potatoes—only to be easily caught by Scorpius's strong arms. He picked her up in one fluid motion and followed after Renée as they made their way out of the glasshouse, Rose's face pressed into Scorpius's shoulder the whole time, her humiliation and rage building up from within and replacing her previous fear and weakness.

She didn't know where they went, or how long it took to reach there, but she felt she familiar warping sensation of Side-along Apparition and then the whoosh as they landed wherever it was they were supposed to.

"Does she have her keys on her?" Scorpius's voice floated to Rose as though through a haze. She blinked, suddenly wondering why she couldn't see anything but black and why it felt like her shoulders were carrying three heads instead of one.

"I have them. Took them while she was asleep, since I anticipated we'd be leaving the party earlier than later," Renée's voice replied and it sounded oddly like a muffled echo. "Never foresaw something like _this_ to happen though."

"Really? You _did _send me an urgent Patronus asking me to drop everything and come to the given coordinates," Scorpius's voice said as he moved, his hold on her tightening.

"That was only because she was chugging down Firewhiskey like there was no tomorrow and I wanted to make sure something like what happened _didn't _happen."

"So why did it?"

Rose could hear the accusing tone underlining Scorpius's words even through the haze. When he shifted her in his arms, she sighed and hugged him close, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck. There was a long pause and a small ping before Renée replied.

"My parents' bastard son dosed our drinks. Even if she's a lightweight, I made sure she didn't have more than five glasses. I myself had more than that amount. I'm sure she—" the brunette said something after that that Rose didn't catch as there was a whoosh of wind as they stepped out of what Rose presumed was the lift, wondering why they hadn't Apparated right in front of her door.

_Ah, that's right. The cracks would wake-up the neighbours._

"Do you have it?"

"I already said I did, didn't I? Stop rushing me. I may not look it, but I _am _quite sloshed."

Rose recognised the familiar click of the lock and the warmth of the wards as they passed through them and into her flat. Renée had brought them there. Thank Merlin she had half her sense of mind even when drunk.

"Take her to her room and lay her down on the bed. I'll be with you in a minute."

"What're you going to do?"

There was a tinkle of what sounded oddly like glass clinking against metal and then the sharp smell of peppermint. "I'm going to dilute this so she doesn't throw up when she drinks it."

"Peppermint Potion? Smart."

"Naturally. I may work six days a week, but I still have a life beyond my desk."

"Apparently."

She then heard the creak of a door and felt the world spinning around as she was laid down on something soft and comfortable. She sighed at the cool feel of what were undoubtedly her silk sheets and skimmed her palms across them, fluttering her eyes open and squinting at the brightness.

"Good morning, Miss Weasley," Scorpius said gently, smiling softly as Rose immediately reached out her arms towards him. He leaned forwards so she could wrap them around his neck and kissed her forehead, pulling back with an amused smile when she giggled.

"You are my knight in shining armour," she slurred as he pulled off her shoes and tossed them onto the floor, reaching over to massage her throbbing feet. She sighed. "Don't, they're dirty," she mumbled incoherently and he chuckled.

"Don't worry about inconsequential things and go to sleep, Rose," he told her softly and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"And let you take advantage of me? I'm not stupid!"

She saw the way he stilled and his smile turned strained as his eyes flashed, but he immediately continued with his ministrations, effectively distracting her.

"I would never take advantage of you," he said in a solemn voice and she grinned at him.

"I know, and that's exactly why I love you!"

His eyes widened infinitesimally as his hands once again paused, making her kick them with her feet. He smiled serenely at her and leaned forwards to nuzzle her nose with his. "I see," he said simply, smiling when she tilted her head up to peck his lips.

"Kiss me," she commanded and he raised his eyebrows at her. "Now," she pouted and he chuckled, placing his hands on either side of her head and leaned forwards to catch her lips in a sweet kiss. She sighed into it, curling her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers in his hair.

"No one but you," she murmured against his mouth and saw his eyebrows rise. "I never want to kiss anyone but you," she clarified, pulling his lips back to hers.

He kissed her long and slow, a simple kiss like the previous one they shared, dripping with sweetness and the depth of his feelings for her. He pulled back to gaze into her eyes and say, "And I will make sure you stay firm to your word."

"Promise?" she asked in a small voice, making him smile.

"I promise," he replied, kissing her again.

"Good," she said approvingly, pulling her legs up and wrapping them around his waist.

"Rose, what are you doing?" he asked her mildly, adjusting the leg that was positioned awkwardly on his lap so it wasn't as uncomfortable.

"Caging you so you won't run away," she replied with a superior look on her face.

"Why would I run away?" he asked with an amused chuckle and she shrugged, running her hands through his hair and pulling out the elastic that kept his ponytail in place.

"I like it better when it's short and platinum," she commented, swishing his long locks back and forth. "That way it doesn't tangle."

"Yeah?" he murmured, rubbing his nose against her jaw. She could feel him smile against her skin.

"Yeah. So go cut it," she ordered, wrapping herself as tightly around him as she could without strangling him.

"Your wish is my command," he murmured as he nibbled on her ear, sending a jolt of pleasure through her. She exhaled a shuddering breath and he tilted his head to watch as her eyelids fluttered and she shifted, suddenly feeling warm. "You like that?" he asked, licking the edge of her ear.

"Oh yes," she gasped, her heart starting to race and her stomach fluttering as she felt a deep warmth spread from within her.

He hummed against her ear, the vibrations sending jolts of pleasure through her. She realised belatedly that she was panting lightly and was finding herself incapable of keeping her eyes open for more than half a second at a time. She pressed her lips together and arched her back when he bit down on her lobe, a groan rumbling in her throat. He exhaled slowly and shifted on top of her, his hot breath leaving her skin tingling.

"This—may not be such a good idea," he said breathlessly, his elbows pressing into her sides.

"I… agree," she replied almost inaudibly, pulling his face to hers and kissing him full on the mouth. He groaned rather loudly when she bit his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood and then ran her tongue along it, the heat that she had felt blossom within her steadily moving downwards.

"Rose," he hissed against her lips, but whatever protest he was going to make was lost as her tongue found his and twisted around it.

He suddenly dug his hands under her back and in one swift motion, had pulled back into a sitting position and situated her in his lap. She immediately pressed herself against him, feeling her skirt peel forwards from where it was slit and leave her legs almost completely exposed. She tugged on his hair and he obediently tilted his head back, opening his mouth to give her access to it.

She kissed him soundly and he reciprocated enthusiastically, his hands sliding down her back and legs. She shivered at the heat of his palms against her exposed skin and gasped heavily when he latched his mouth to her throat. She threw her head back, baring her throat for him, her lips parted as she panted, a steady flush enveloping her body. She suddenly jerked against him and he growled, the rippling sound making her bite down hard on her lower lip to keep from crying out.

"Shite," he swore, as he kissed up her neck to her jaw. "Shite."

"Renée—" Rose, squeaked and her voice broke, making her lick her lips and try again. "Renée's outside. We can't do anything dangerous—"

"Yeah," he said and his voice was a deep rumble that made her shiver from head to toe. She opened her eyes and chanced a look at him, her breath hitching at how dark and brazen his now murky grey eyes were, the depth of desire in them making her shudder and break out in gooseflesh.

"Do not _ever_—" he began, digging his nails into her thighs and making her whimper, "—let her talk you into going to another one of those wretched parties again. At least not without me," he added, nipping at her jaw.

She nodded vehemently; her breathing was laboured and her drunken haze was slowly being replaced by dizzying desire that she felt would rip her from the inside out. "Scorpius," she gasped as he kissed down her throat with enough force to bruise her skin. "We have to stop."

"Yeah," he agreed in the same husky voice, tangling his hand in her hair and pulling her mouth down to his, "Yeah, we do."

But the way he kissed her was the exact opposite of his words—desperate, hungry, yearning and urgent. Exactly how she reciprocated it, loving the dull ache in her scalp as he tugged tightly on her roots, his free arm crushing her against him.

There was a series of impatient raps on the door and Renée's muffled voice was heard from the other side—"Are you two quite finished with your escapades? I would like to go home, now."

The two in question couldn't respond immediately, their heavy panting filling the room as they grinned sheepishly at each other. "We're coming!" Rose called, turning her head towards the door and immediately feeling Scorpius's mouth on her neck.

"Stop it," she laughed, tugging at his long hair. "She's been waiting this whole time."

"But you're not even drunk anymore," Scorpius replied breathlessly, his eyes never leaving her lips. "Can't we just tell her to leave the potion somewhere and go?"

"We could," Rose replied thoughtfully, biting her lip and running a finger down his chest in a teasing way. She bit back a smile as he stilled, his eyes growing molten again. She leaned in and kissed him softly before flicking his nose. "But I'm exhausted and would really like to get some shut eye myself."

"Hello!" Renée yelled and Rose laughed, sliding off Scorpius and instantly missing the feeling of his body against hers, and from the look on his face, knew he felt the same way. She pulled her skirt down only so it wasn't bunched around her waist, feeling his eyes on her as she reached down and adjusted the slit in the back. She smiled smugly as she pulled open the door, leaning against the frame and placing a hand on her hip. She raised her eyebrows at Renée—whose irritated look immediately changed to an amused one.

"You wench," she whispered, thrusting a glass of creamy, greenish liquid into her chest.

"High praise, coming from you," Rose replied evenly, raising the glass to her mouth and downing it in one gulp, making a face at the sharp taste of mint.

"He's staring at you like all he wants to do is throw you down and ravish you all night long," the brunette murmured, glancing over Rose's shoulder.

"I'm sure he is," Rose said coyly and Renée threw her a look.

"Traitor," she said and Rose smacked her hand.

"I'm sorry, _who _is it that's getting engaged tomorrow again?"

She watched with mild amusement as Renée's eyes widened comically as she clasped Rose's shoulder.

"It's Saturday already?" she screeched, turning on her heel and running to the door. "I'll see you at lunch tomorrow!" she called, slamming the door behind her, followed by the pop of Apparition. Once in a while was OK, the neighbours would probably be awake now, anyway.

She turned around slowly and made her way back to the bed, smiling down at Scorpius in a coquettish way, reaching forwards to let her hand trail down his shoulders. He sat up straight when she bent down and drew so close to him, their moths were inches about.

"Goodbye, Scorpius," she purred, standing back up and walking to her bathroom without even a second look at him. She bit her lip to stifle her giggle as she slowly began to shut the door, but he was there in an instant, shoving it open and slamming her against the wall.

"That won't do, Miss Weasley, that simply won't do," he said silkily against her mouth. "You can't have the last laugh. Not this time."

"Oh, but I already have," she replied coyly, as she planted a swift kiss on his lips and pushed him out the door. "See yourself out," she said with a smug smile, watching the stupefied look on his face as she shut the door on him.

She slid off her clothes, carefully listening to the sound of her bedroom door open and a few minutes later, the front door shut. She grinned to herself, as the hot shower water flowed down her body, washing away the activities of the night.

She knew he had let her have her way with the sole intention of driving away the memory of Tristan and what he had done from her mind—which he had accomplished successfully, she told herself, humming with satisfaction as she looked into the glass cubicle of the shower, her mouth dropping open at the sight of the red love bites strewn down the side of her throat.

_Son of a—_

Scorpius Bloody Malfoy had had his last laugh anyway.

* * *

**A/n: Hi hello how's it going? I wanted to say a _huge _thank you to everyone who left me reviews on the previous chapter, especially all the guest reviews that I couldn't reply to. I hope this chapter clarified some of your doubts and I decided to give a brief explanation on Tristan as most of you demanded to know how Renée wasn't aware that her brother was such a douche.**

**I mentioned in the previous chapter that Tristan was actually very large when he was younger and looked pretty much like a brunette Dudley. He was sorted into Slytherin and was bullied to the extent of trying to take his own life in his fourth year. By the end of his fifth year, he did a complete 180, looks and personality wise. He lost all the extra weight and turned into one of those stereotypical Slytherin Pureblood nobles. His initial relationship with his family was distant to begin with, because of his image issues, but once he changed, he treated them like they were much too inferior to him and obviously Renée lost it. They're two years apart, so when Tristan went through his change, she was already leaving Hogwarts. She moved out just after and barely ever spoke to Tristan. Once he left Hogwarts, he just went downhill with all his partying and spending his inheritance and had turned into the bullies that made him almost take his life. So basically Renée's relationship with him is very civil and in the manner portrayed in the previous chapter and she honestly did not expect her brother to do what he did. As to why he did what he did, I leave that open to interpretation since I've given you his character sketch.**

**Hope this chapter made up for the previous one! Also, writing a smug Rose is so much fun because she thinks she's all that when Scorpius is just letting her have her way haha, they're just too cute.**

**Let me know your thoughts!**

**Lots of love~ **


	18. The Beginning of The End

**A/n: Alright, everyone. Here's an early chapter for one of my beloved followers who has been reading and reviewing this story since the beginning. Also I decided to update this because y'all are gonna need some time to get over it.**

* * *

**Chapter 18**

**The Beginning Of The End**

* * *

"Sounds like you two had fun."

"Were you not _listening_ to me?" Scorpius asked incredulously, gaping at Albus as the latter serenely sipped on some strong smelling potion. "What is it that you're drinking, anyway?"

"I did listen to you, which is why I made that observation. It's quite obvious that she's not going to begin ignoring or avoiding you at this point, don't you think?"

Scorpius regarded his best mate with a considering stare, wondering if he should bring up his second, ignored question. Finally deciding that Albus ignoring it on purpose may mean little to nothing, he sighed and leaned back in his seat, clutching the counter when the stool teetered back.

"I really don't see why you overthink everything so much," Albus commented idly, coughing a little after his latest sip and grimacing as he stroked his throat.

"Are you ill?" asked the blond curiously, wondering why Albus insisted on drinking whatever it was when he obviously didn't like it.

Albus waved off the question with a "Just a mild case of the flu," and fixed Scorpius with a dazzling smile that made the latter squint suspiciously. "Are you sure? That seems awfully strong a potion for a simple cold."

Albus rolled his eyes with an exaggerated roll of his head and looked pointedly at the blond. "I am fine," he said strongly and Scorpius nodded reluctantly.

"Now, if we could please move on from my unnecessarily over-scrutinised cold," he said pointedly, placing the empty mug down and pushing it away, "let's get back to the topic at hand – your wonderfully developing love life."

Scorpius scrunched his nose. "Don't make it sound like the bacteria you secretly culture in your hidden cabinet," he said disapprovingly, making Albus chuckle.

"I like it that you know my dirty little secrets," he replied with the kind of sly smile he always had when he wanted to accentuate his innuendos. Scorpius wasn't the least bit impressed by it.

"I see. Well, I just came to tell you, that's all."

"Thank you for your frequent updates on your progress, but I really would appreciate it if you even _thought_ of calling me and _asking _me before you just waltz in here all glowing from your sexual escapades."

Scorpius turned a nice shade of red and Albus chuckled. He looked down at his hands with a mild smile and finally asked, "Renée's engagement is in a few hours, isn't it? Shouldn't you go get dressed?"

"I probably should," Scorpius said in a voice that clearly said he didn't want to as he eyed Albus with scrutiny. He hadn't brought up the topic because he hadn't wanted to force Renée's engagement onto Albus, considering their previous relationship.

"Well, I can always cover for you by exploding you in an experiment if you want," Albus offered helpfully, giving Scorpius his million-galleon smile. Scorpius played along, but the way Albus's emerald eyes had gone dark didn't go unseen by the blond.

"How kind of you to offer, but no," Scorpius replied, pulling his jacket over his shoulders. "Besides, aren't you invited as well?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about dear old me, I shall come and go as I please, Renée already knows that," Albus said importantly, his eyes flashing, as he flicked his unruly hair over his shoulder. "Besides, I wouldn't want to—"

Scorpius looked up from rolling up his shoulders, curious as to why Albus had abruptly stopped mid-sentence, and froze from the sight before him.

Albus was sitting absolutely still, his face having gone slack and his eyes having glazed over, his mouth parted to form whatever word he was about to say before he stopped. He looked as though someone had Petrified him and Scorpius jumped to his feet, swiveling around in order to find the perpetrator. But there was nobody there and even as an unnerving confusion settled over the blond, Albus continued speaking as though he hadn't just gone completely rigid.

"—steal your spotlight, now would I?"

Scorpius stared down at the brown-haired male incredulously, noting the slightly confused expression on Albus's face before he smoothed it over with a genial smile directed at the blond.

"When did you stand up?" he asked curiously, sending a shiver down Scorpius's spine.

_What the hell just happened?_

"Was I so engrossed in my self-praise that I didn't notice you stand?" Albus mused, a thoughtful expression on his face, but Scorpius could see the hint of confusion in his eyes.

_Does he not have any recollection of what just happened?_

"Al," Scorpius started carefully, walking over as the other stood up, and placing a palm against his forehead, said, "Maybe you should rest. I think you've been working too much."

"But mummy!" Albus whined in a high-pitched voice, making the corner of Scorpius's mouth twitch.

"Now, Albus. Go make use of that unnecessarily large sofa you've placed in the middle of your office," Scorpius said, motioning to said sofa.

"Mate, the day I let you mother me, is the day I keel over from an unknown disease and am on my death-bed," Albus replied seriously, placing a hand on Scorpius's shoulder. He then moved towards the stools they had been sitting on and motioned to one.

_Does he not remember our previous conversation? _Scorpius thought with a frown.

"I was just leaving," Scorpius said uncertainly, pointing at the door over his shoulder. "Renée's engagement, remember?"

"Ah, but of course," Albus replied, motioning towards the door as well. "Wouldn't want to make you late."

"Mate—"

"Don't worry, I'll be poking my very handsome face in shortly," Albus said, almost hurriedly ushering him out. Scorpius cast a final, uncertain look over his shoulder and closed the door behind him.

* * *

The second the click of the lock sounded, he doubled over and heaved, his body shuddering from the force of the coughs that wracked through him. He unsteadily straightened up, gulping lungfuls of air as he reached out blindly, trying to grab onto something for support. Finding nothing within arm's reach, he stumbled to the side, his vision suddenly blurring, causing him to trip against the stools and ram into the metal counter.

A pained gasp escaped his lips as he tried to get back on his shaking legs and failed to do so. A dry sob escaped his parted lips as he slid to the floor, leaning against the cool metal back and slamming his head repeatedly against it, letting the dull gonging sound echo through the large space. He gasped for breath as another fit of coughs wrenched from his lungs, making him pull his knees to his chest and wind his arms around them, rocking back and forth until they subsided.

After a long time – Merlin knew how long – he pulled himself unsteadily to his feet, shuffling and stumbling in the direction of the white panels that lined the far side of the room. His shoulder rammed painfully against them as he lost his balance and he took a moment to catch his breath, grimacing at the wheezing sounds of his breaths.

He reached out and pressed a hidden switch in the panel closest to him, causing it to undo itself from the rest with a hiss of air. He watched as it slowly eased back and opened out to the side, followed by a tall stand that held a smaller version of a Pensieve. He pushed himself off and staggered to it, leaning his palms heavily on the stand for support and staring at his reflection in the mirror that hung in the back of the hollow space the panel had uncovered.

The man who looked back at him was a ghost of the original; his wild brown hair stuck to his sweating skin—that was so pale, it looked translucent. His face was ashen and patchy, his lips were cracked and blue, his emerald eyes that always glittered with emotion were dull and lifeless. His shoulders trembled with the effort of breathing and he had to concentrate to keep his knees from crumpling under his weight.

He suddenly retched, bringing his hand to cover his mouth as he coughed into it, the force of the coughs making him shudder even more violently than before. He winced at the sharp pain that blossomed in his chest and throat, staring down through his blurred vision at the smatter of blood on his shaking palm.

"Shite," he choked, coughing again. Reaching into the pocket of his white lab coat, he pulled out his wand with a trembling hand and after several failed attempts, pressed the tip to his temple and withdrew a silvery fibre of memory. Dropping it into the Pensieve, he gently stirred the glimmering surface with his wand.

There was a familiar sound of a door sliding open and he snapped his head up, immediately pushing the Pensieve back into its hiding place, and only relaxing slightly when he heard the soft vacuum of the panel slipping back into place. He stared at the far door Scorpius had just left through and realised that nobody was coming in. In fact, it wasn't even open.

"Your state seems to have visibly worsened since the last we spoke," came a soft, ghostly voice from off to the side and he started, jumping around and staring wide-eyed at the woman who had just entered through the enchanted back entrance that led to his lab.

"You scared me," he snapped in a trembling voice, reluctantly allowing her to lead him to the couch and help him down onto it.

"You startle at the slightest of things lately, Albus. You cannot put the blame for your extremely cautious nature on me."

"Yeah, maybe, but you don't have to sneak up on me!"

"I assumed you heard me enter, seeing how you hurriedly hid whatever it was you were doing."

"Well, don't assume and announce yourself!" he snapped, leaning forwards as another bout of coughs wracked his body.

"Do not speak," she said gently, easing him back against the couch. "Have you been taking your medicine?"

"You know I drink that disgusting filth like my life depends on it," he rasped in irritation, closing his eyes and licking his lips.

"But your life _does _depend on that 'disgusting filth' as you so crudely like to put it."

He groaned, completely unwilling to listen to one of her never-ending lectures just then and throwing his head back, tried to breathe as deeply as he could without feeling like his lungs were being constantly stabbed by millions of tiny needles.

"Why must you insist on pushing your body to its limits? Can you not at least give it some respite, if only so you do not keel over and die?"

"I'm afraid if I close my eyes and let myself drift off, I'll never wake up," he confessed quietly. He listened to the way her breath caught and felt her hands stop in their soft, soothing caress of his hair. It was a long time before she finally spoke.

"Albus, please put an end to this madness. Every day I see you, I feel like it will be the last. Please stop this futile endeavour you persist in conquering and let yourself heal."

"Are you asking me to give up?" he asked quietly, hearing the ice in his own voice.

"Yes," came the soft reply and he sat up much faster than he should have, fixing accusing eyes on her.

"Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to refuse," he said stonily, his mouth twisting into a sneer.

Her expression softened and she reached out hesitantly, making to touch him. He let her do so as he knew that was her only comfort. He knew that she wouldn't stop him and simply nod sadly in agreement. Something about this scene brought on a sense of déjâvù, but he couldn't put his finger to it.

His heart jolted when she smiled sadly at him and nodded, her cold, frail fingers catching his chin in the gentlest of caresses, like she expected him to shatter into thousands of fragments if she were to apply the slightest of pressure.

"I'm sorry," he said in a strained voice, choking at the end and she drew near, reaching her other hand up to stroke his hair like she had been doing. "I'm sorry, but I can't stop. Not now. Not after all these years. I can't give up when he's still fighting. I have to do this even if it means my imminent and irreversible death."

The way her eyes shone with unshed tears and the sound of her almost inaudible sniffling made his chest tighten and the lump in his throat grow ever prominent. He shouldn't have brought up a painful memory, but unless he had, she wouldn't have understood. Even if she agreed simply because she didn't like to have to fight with him, he wanted her to know _why_ this was so important. He had to _remind_ her why it was so important.

"You are slipping," she told him finally, her voice cracking as her face constricted into an expression of pain.

"I am not," he replied adamantly, leaning away from her touch and feeling the tinge of guilt as she whimpered at the rejection.

"You are, my love," the older woman insisted, her hands hanging in the air as though begging for him to come back to her.

"Why must you keep saying that," he snapped, exhaustion sweeping over him and leaving his anger as nothing more than a dull ache in his chest.

"Because it is the truth. You no longer seem to remember that you have lost your purpose," she said softly, her hands lowering slightly and back towards her.

"_Lost my purpose?_" he bit angrily, his throat burning from overusing his voice so close after such a severe coughing episode. "How _dare _you say such things to me! Have you really fallen so low?"

She brought her hands to her mouth and sobbed into them, streaks of tears flowing down her cheeks. He hated to see her cry. He hated more that he was the one to make her cry. But he was tired and angry and she was only rubbing salt on his wounds.

"You talk as though he is dead!" he shouted, convulsing as a fresh wave of coughs made him heave and gasp for air. She was instantly by his side, rubbing soothing circles on his back and whispering quiet words of consolation against his hair.

He sat back slowly and blinked back the tears from his eyes, sniffing and wiping the saliva that had spattered onto his chin. "I will not give up until I know for sure he is dead! I will not stop until I know for sure I can never bring him back! I will _not _give up until I know for _sure_ that I have failed!"

"He is dead, Albus," she cried softly, clinging to his arms like the pathetic and weak widow she was.

"He may be dead to you, but not to me," he hissed venomously, yanking away from her grip.

"Why do you not listen? He is _dead! _He has been dead for four years now!"

"_Shut up!" _he roared, rearing back and almost falling onto the couch. "How dare you! How _dare _you mock me! How dare you say such—"

* * *

"How dare you! How _dare _you mock me! How dare you say such—"

She watched as he froze, his face that was twisted in anger suddenly falling slack, his emerald eyes that were glittering with fury suddenly going dull, his shoulders that were trembling from repressed rage, going still. She watched as he sat absolutely rigid for a moment as she sobbed quietly into her hands. She watched as, after a long minute, the light slowly began to re-enter his eyes. She watched as they fixed on her crying form in confusion. She watched as the confusion turned into bewilderment and he immediately pulled her against his side.

"Why are you crying?" he asked her quietly, the startled shock clear in his voice. "Did I say something to hurt you? Did I fight with you again? Tell me, am I the one who caused you to weep like this?" he begged her, his voice sounding as vulnerable as it had on that fateful night five years ago.

"You do not know?" she asked him, somehow able to maintain the sternness of her voice even as she wept like the broken woman she was.

"I ask because I don't," he said gently and she shook her head as she wiped away her tears and pulled away from him. She fixed him with her strong gaze and willed herself not to cave under the swirling confusion and fear in his eyes.

"Do you really not know, Albus?" she asked him and he slowly shook his head. "Do you not know or do you not remember?"

"I don't—I don't remember," he admitted in a choked voice, swallowing thickly. She pressed her lips together to contain the sob that threatened to escape them.

"Do you know who you are?"

"Albus," he replied in confusion.

"Your full name?"

"Albus Severus Potter. Second son and middle child to Harry James Potter and Ginevra Molly Potter."

"Do you remember the name of my late husband? The man who you are still desperately trying to save?"

He frowned at her and shook his head slightly. "Late? He's not—"

"Answer the question," she snapped.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy. Father to Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy and husband to—" he paused, as though he couldn't remember.

"Yes?" she prompted and he looked at her in confusion. "Who is Draco's wife?"

"I don't—he's not dead! He isn't dead, I'm going to save him!"

"Albus, answer my question!" she shrieked. Her voice was shrill and trembled from the sheer force with which she spoke. He recoiled as though she had physically struck him. "What is my name?" she asked in a much softer voice. "Do you know?"

"Yes, I—"

"Do you remember?"

The way his eyes went round from fear made the shards of her already broken heart pierce her and rip her apart from the inside. He didn't remember her.

He didn't remember her.

He remembered her late husband who he had convinced himself to believe was alive, but he didn't remember her.

Her, who had cared for him after that tragic incident half a decade ago; her, who had helped him stand back on his own two feet; her, who had silently watched over him from the shadows as he wavered back and forth between the harsh reality and his twisted dream world; her, who had watched as he began to draw closer and closer to the precipice; her, who he had always trusted unconditionally and listened to without hesitation.

And now there he was, staring at her with wide, unrecognising eyes like she was a lie that he must run from.

She made her decision in that instant. It didn't matter to her that he didn't remember her. It didn't matter that he didn't recognise her. It didn't matter that he didn't trust her. She was not going to let him throw his life away for a future that would never come. She was going to save him as she could not save her husband and son.

She reached into her robes and pulled out a small vial made from dark glass, making it impossible to tell the colour of the liquid within. She reached towards him in his momentary confusion and prying open his mouth, tipped the contents of the vial down his throat. She watched the light in his eyes flicker out as he slumped against her, completely unconscious.

"Sleep, my child," she whispered softly, pulling his head onto her lap and stroking his hair. "Sleep until you can wake up and remember that your purpose no longer exists; that your goal is gone and your efforts, fruitless. Sleep until you can accept the terrible truth and not have to lapse back into a state of not knowing. Sleep now and this time, let _me_ be the one to protect _you_."

* * *

**A/n: -laughs nervously- What are your thoughts? Also, I did warn you about Albus. **


	19. Falling

**Chapter 19**

**Falling**

* * *

"I say, will you stop ignoring me and _listen!"_

"The more you whine, the more I will continue to ignore you," Rose replied idly, smacking her lips and fluttering her eyelashes at her reflection.

"But today's supposed to be _my _special day!" Renée whined, swiveling the umpteen folds of her floor-length skirt.

"Oh my, look at you! You look absolutely _darling!"_ came the gushing voice of Renée's mother as the older woman bustled into the room. She was blond with telltale signs of grey in her golden locks, her floor length peach dress hanging off of her broad shoulders and hugging her voluptuous curves, as she walked over and immediately began fussing over her daughter

"What!" Renée shrieked, slapping her mother's hands away and shoving Rose away from the wall length mirror so she could situate herself in front of it. She regarded herself for a moment before glowering at her mother's reflection. "You almost scared me! I thought my painfully crafted ravishing-lady look was completely ruined!"

"Oh, you are such a tease," Chantelle Herington replied sarcastically, moving towards Rose instead. "Why don't you learn from Rose, here? She's grown up to be such a wonderful young lady."

"Thank you, Miss Herington," Rose said with a mock bow, making Chantelle break out in giggles.

Renée rolled her eyes at their antics as she dabbed at her lips. "Mother dear already considers you more of a daughter than I," she said drily, to which Chantelle and Rose wrapped their arms around each other's waists.

"I cannot deny the truth," the older woman said solemnly and Rose laughed.

"It is an honour to be considered your daughter," Rose said with a genuine smile and Renée smacked her lips disapprovingly.

"Keep talking like that and she'll have you marry into the family in a second."

"Oh, speaking of which," Chantelle said, her honey-coloured eyes shining with the familiar gleam Rose remembered from the summers she had spent on Herington estate during their school days, watching the older woman entertain a myriad of young lovers. "I just spotted two absolutely _lovely _lads walking across the lawn just now."

"Is one of them the kind you prefer?" Renée asked with a glance over her shoulder.

"Oh, stop it," Chantelle blushed, waving her hand.

"Then the other one's Rose's," Renée replied flatly, thoroughly unamused by her mother's shameless flirting and flaunting.

"The one with that long blond mane?" Chantelle asked in a somewhat astonished voice, snapping her eyes to Rose. "I didn't know you fancied boys like that."

"_You're _one to talk, you borderline pedophile," Renée said crisply, turning away from the mirror after finally having deemed her appearance perfect. She gave her mother a scathing look and then picking up her skirts, made to exit the room. "_What _father would say, I don't know. He must be rolling in his grave by now."

"Few years away from home and look how barbaric her way of speaking has become," Chantelle said sorrowfully, hooking her arm through Rose's as they followed after the brunette.

Rose laughed as she listened to Renée complain loudly about how smothering it was in her floor-length dress.

"You adamantly insisted upon wearing that, Ren, don't complain now," Chantelle chastised, walking upto her daughter – who had almost tripped on her overly long skirt and had bent down to see if she'd ripped it.

"I wish I'd gone for comfort instead of appearance," the brunette said, eyeing Rose's choice of clothing for the occasion.

Rose had chosen to wear a black, glossy, high-waist, pleated skirt that ended halfway up her thighs and a flouncy, ivory blouse tucked into it, its airy material forming bunches at her shoulders and then tightening just above her elbow. She'd paired the ensemble with black stilettoes with gold cuffs and gold jewelry. She fluffed her hair and smiled, adjusting the barrette atop her head.

It seemed rather simple a choice for an engagement, but the event itself was simple, with barely fifty attending guests consisting of the closest friends and family. What with the Heringtons being aristocrats, and both mother and daughter's love for attention, she had expected it to be a grand event. But apparently Cole had somehow miraculously convinced Renée to have it on a small scale, and so it was taking place on the estate itself, in a portion of the extravagant garden that Chantelle was so proud of.

"Mother, will you kindly quit with your fussing? You're driving me up the wall, here!"

"Nonsense! I'm only making sure my darling daughter is perfect for her grand day!"

That obviously seemed to cheer the brunette up and she hefted her skirts with her mother's help and made it down the path that led to the gardens. She stopped to wave at someone and Rose's stomach fluttered when she saw who it was.

"I permit you to go say hello to your lover boy under the condition that you return to my side immediately," Renée told her, tilting her chin up and looking down her nose at the redhead. Rose rolled her eyes and did a little curtsy as she waited for her friend and her mother to walk away before she turned and made her way toward Scorpius – and Lucas, who was shuffling around awkwardly like a lost, baby animal, behind the blond.

Scorpius noticed her a moment later and with a wide grin stretching across his face, began walking towards her. She didn't bother hiding her smile at the way his eyes traveled down her body as he gave her a once over.

They were barely a few feet apart when she felt it – a sharp prodding inside her head.

Someone was trying to look into her mind using Legilimency and she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes going round as she immediately brought up her walls, concentrating on the image of the brick wall around her family home. The prodding didn't stop, and she felt it scrape and poke against the wall she'd brought up around her mind. She saw the concerned expression on Scorpius's face and looked away, her eyes scanning her surroundings for the perpetrator.

There were more than a few guests meandering through the gardens as they waited for the actual engagement to start, but all of them seemed to be chatting away with each other like twittering birds, none of them even glancing her way.

By then Scorpius had reached her and was asking her something, but she was too busy keeping up her Occlumency and trying to find the person who was trying to get into her head at the same time, to register his words. She had just skimmed past the farthest wall of the gardens when she did a double take, her eyes flitting back to the cloaked figure standing well hidden in the shade of two trees.

_How can they perform such powerful Legilimency from so far away? _She thought, panicking as she felt her own Occlumency crumble under her momentary uncertainty.

"_Do not fight me," _the voice in her head said and she gasped as her mental wards were torn down, feeling the unimaginably heavy presence in her mind. _"I am not the enemy."_

_Like hell, _she thought, trying desperately to concentrate on the image of the wall but failing as she saw the figure move farther into the shadows. She felt her knees buckle under her and Scorpius probably caught her before she fell, as she grit her teeth and vehemently tried to repel the force trying to overtake her mind.

"_Do not resist, child. I am not your enemy. I mean you no harm."_

There was something oddly familiar about the ghostly voice echoing in her head, but she was barely clinging onto consciousness and couldn't find the energy or the mental prowess to figure out to whom it belonged.

"_I implore you to let me in. I can only speak with you in this manner. I beg you to listen to me. Your brother is in grave danger and only you can help him."_

An image of Albus flashed through her mind and she stilled in both her physical and mental struggling. Albus looked pale as death, his skin dry and flaky and his cheeks hollow. His eyes were closed and his arms were crossed across his chest over his Healer robes. He almost looked as though he was—

_Is he dead? _She thought desperately, panic starting to overwhelm her instinct to fight against the unknown presence.

"_Not yet,"_ replied the voice and she relaxed slightly. _"But he will be soon."_

_What must I do, _she asked urgently as the image of her beloved cousin began to fade to the back of her mind.

"_I will show you memories that are crucial in order for you to understand. You must pay close attention and never let your mind waver, lest it should crack under the weight of the spell and effectively end your life."_

_You're telling me this could kill me?!_

"_Yes, I am. But it is a risk that is needed to be taken in order to understand what ails your brother. Do you hold your own life of higher importance, to forsake that of your brother?"_

_No, no I don't. Alright, show me this thing that is so important that I have to risk my life for it._

"_Very well. But I must warn you; I am sending the memories directly into your mind. These memories are not mine and therefore not under my control. Even _I_ do not know the full extent of the consequences from the events and emotions that transpire in it."_

_Events? This isn't just one memory?_

"_It is, but it is made up different parts. Parts that you must know about in order to—"_

_To understand, yes, I got that. But why is this so risky if you're only showing me memories?_

"_Because Legilimency is much like viewing Pensieve memories. It will take you through the memory like you were present at the time."_

_I know what Legilimency is; I'm asking you why this is so dangerous._

"_I already told you. You will be experiencing these memories as is. Even if barely a moment has passed in your physical body, you may have lived an entire lifetime in your mind. Legilimency is a very powerful and very dangerous tool and you must always remember that you are not part of the memory. __You are a separate entity who is only viewing the memory from the perspective of its owner. Do not forget your identity and do not lose yourself within the memory. This is my one and only warning to you. Now, are you ready? I do not have much time or magic left to perform such a strong spell from afar."_

_Wait, I have one last question. You said these memories weren't yours, then whose are they?_

There was a pause and Rose suddenly wondered if the person who was performing the spell had used up too much magic and couldn't keep it up anymore. But she felt the presence reappear in her mind and braced herself.

"_They belong to my only blood family left, the memories of my only son."_

And then she was falling.

Falling through never ending darkness. Falling through space and time. Falling through her own mind.

Suddenly there was the sound of a child's bubbling laughter and thousands of memories shot past her as she fell. She was falling too fast to hold onto any of the memories, and the rush of emotions and scenes were making her ill. She shut her eyes and let the overjoyed screams of the child overcome her senses, listening to the ringing, carefree laughter echo through her mind. There was something familiar about it. The extreme joy and warmth that spread through her, the overwhelming affection…

* * *

_When she no longer felt the falling sensation, but rather, a gentle hovering, before she felt solid ground beneath her feet, she slowly fluttered her eyes open and took in the scene around her._

_Her first reaction was a startled one. She always thought memories were vibrant clips of a person's life, full of colours and energy. But the memory she was in was almost monochromatic. The colours and hues had been reduced to duller shades, like ghosts of the originals, and it made her feel unnerved and claustrophobic. It was like the colours were bleeding out of the memory slowly but surely, to leave behind a grey scale scene that probably had once been bursting with colour. It was as though the owner of the memory was suppressing it knowingly or unknowingly, causing it to become dreary and lifeless._

_The dulled colours mixed and blended around her to form a familiar cobblestoned street that she instantly recognised as Diagon Alley. The buildings and shops seemed to be slightly blurred, like they were out of focus. But the blurred edges began to coagulate and she realised with some shock that the vague forms were actually witches and wizards present in the memory – it was just taking some time for them to appear. _

_Once they were fully formed, the bustle of activity and the assault of sounds was almost overwhelming. The sounds echoed in her ears like she was listening to them through a Sonorus spell. She watched the people around her milling about and felt a strangely uncomfortable sensation. It only took her a moment to place the cause for it._

_All the witches and wizards were either blatantly staring at her, or shooting her passing glances every now and then. But that wasn't what was making her uncomfortable. It was the obvious dislike and horror in their eyes and expressions as they looked at her – like she was some murderous beast tied to a lamppost. _

_Then she realised with a jolt that the witches and wizards weren't staring at _her _but at something to her left. She looked beside her and was momentarily confused when she saw more of the bustling street, before she was startled out of her shoes when there was a slight rustling near her feet. Her eyes dropped lower to find a child – a young boy, to be precise – of barely five or six years of age, his expensive jacket and shorts coupled with his shiny leather shoes and the miniature top hat on his head screamed nobility. _

_She couldn't see his face because the rim of his hat was obscuring her view. She could only see that he was licking something that looked like the stick inside a Popsicle. Curious as to why he was licking the wooden stick when the ice candy was obviously finished, she took a step to the side and felt something squelch under her shoes. Turning to look down at her feet, she saw what was the melted left overs of what had once been a grape Popsicle – if the telltale violet in the gray was any indication. _

_Turning to the boy, she wondered if he had dropped his Popsicle, and if he had, why was he still licking the stick? He obviously had enough money to buy himself another. She suddenly looked around herself and the boy, realising with a jolt that the child was standing all alone on the side of the street – his parents were nowhere in sight. Looking in the glass of the closest store, she tried to see if she could spot someone who fit the description of his parents, but could barely look a few feet past the display case, the inside being too dark to see into._

"_Hello, my dear, are you lost? Do you know where mummy and daddy are?"_

_She spun around to see the witch who had bent down to talk to the boy. The woman was clothed completely in back, like she was in mourning, and had a very large, very fancy hat perched atop her dark head. Her painted lips were stretched across her face in what seemed like a concerned smile, but she didn't look in the least bit like someone who cared if a little boy was lost or separated from his parents. In fact, the woman looked exactly like the kind who would want to kidnap young children and sell them off as slaves – especially if they were of noble birth._

_She watched with growing trepidation as the little boy looked up at the woman and slowly shook his head, the Popsicle stick still in his hand. She couldn't see his face yet. The black-clad woman smiled genially at him and stretched out a gloved hand. "Would you like to come with me so we can look for your parents?"_

'_Don't go!' she shouted, but her voice was lost in her own throat and realised that she had no physical body. She was only a specter drifting through the memory. Plus, even if she _did _have a physical body, she was sure nothing could change the course of events in the memory even if she wanted them to. So she watched with a sinking heart as the child discarded his popsicle stick and placed his small hand in the woman's glove-clad one._

"_Now, can you remember the last place you saw mummy or daddy?"_

_The boy shook his head and hung it, his shoulders drooping sadly. 'He must have been really scared,' she thought with a jolt. Of course he would be, he was only a child, lost and alone in a place where he obviously didn't belong._

"_No matter, this nice lady here will help you find them. May I be so bold as to ask you for your name?"_

_The boy hesitated for a brief moment before raising his head to look at her. His lips moved and she leant in to catch his name, but the memory was already shifting to the next one; the cobblestoned streets were melting into splotches of dull colour and blending together to form the next scene. __She watched the little boy and the woman disappear into the swimming grey and black and sighed, even her breath feeling nonexistent._

_The next scene was in a courtyard of some sort. She could only see one portion of the broken down structure to her side, the rest was still swirling around and hadn't settled yet. Making her way towards the crumbling wall and peering around it, she wondered if she would find the little boy there._

_To her extreme shock, she did. He was crouching by the least destroyed portion of the wall, sobbing quietly into his knees. He was wearing a cloak around his shoulder and its hood was pulled over his head, obscuring her view of his face once again. She was swimming with curiosity as to who this boy was. He seemed to be the owner of the memories. She had thought the memories may belong to Albus, but the crying boy was definitely not her cousin._

'_So then, who is he? And why is he so important?'_

_There was the rustling of a cloak behind her and she half-turned, leaping out of the way as a wizard strode right through her. Her heart would probably have been racing extremely fast if she could feel it, she thought vaguely. In the previous memory, her spectral form seemed more solid. Now, she felt like she could twist around at her waist multiple times or turned her head in a 180˚ circle. She dared not try, though._

"_What do you think you're doing?"_

_She was pulled out of her musings as the wizard reached down and pulled the boy up roughly by his arm. He shrieked and tried to struggle out of the man's grip, but to no avail._

"_Enough of this nonsense. Your grandmother's ceremony has already begun."_

_The man then began dragging the boy away, and as they passed by her, she realised that he was at least a head taller than before. He must have been around ten. _

_The wizard half-carried, half-dragged the boy towards wherever this grandmother apparently was, but the scene was still fluctuating and they disappeared, once again, into the swimming dullness._

_She was almost jolted into the next memory like someone had punched her in the stomach, making her double over and catch her breath before she could view the new scene. When she slowly raised her head, it was to another extremely familiar sight. She felt herself soundlessly cry out in joy, running towards the nearest window and staring out of it to the lush green – albeit dull – grounds of Hogwarts. It was probably early spring and she could smell the crispness in the cool breeze that swept through her hair. Her body seemed to have solidified once again._

_There was the sound of laughter followed by angry shouts and she turned to see two students running down the hallway. They disappeared around the corner before she could catch more than the long, curly locks of the girl. Her heart stilled. Something about this scene was extremely familiar. She immediately tore after the duo, rounding the corner and instantly recognising where they were._

'_The courtyard just outside the Clock Tower,' she thought excitedly, her blood singing in her veins as she dashed around the fountain and slipped in next to the enormous swaying pendulum. She caught her breath as she scanned the area for the two students. There was a despondent scream from the right and she immediately rushed towards it, her own mind beginning to remember the memory._

"_Give it back! Give it back, please!"_

"_Or what, Rose? Going to go running and cry to mummy?"_

"_Please! I'll let you have my homework, so please give it back!"_

_There was the sound of jubilant laughter as the boy continued to tease the girl and even as she turned the corner towards them, the memory began to change._

'_What is going on?' she thought. 'That was Scorpius and me just now. Is this… is this Scorpius's memory?'_

* * *

**A/n: Here's the next chapter! I should say, the chapters from now on may seem to end in Cliffies, but they aren't actually Cliffies. Or they're not intended to be Cliffies, anyway. It's mostly because the memories were one, very long chapter and I had to strategically break them into different parts. Things will probably get confusing but answers will be given to you sooner than later, be patient.**

**Anyway, your thoughts?**


	20. Painful Truth

**A/n: The whole chapter is the memory, continuing from the previous chapter, but the parts which are the actual memory have been italicised and the normal text is the transition between memories.**

**The underlined '_she'_s refer to present time Rose just because I wanted to use pronouns and to avoid confusion. **

* * *

**Chapter 20**

**Painful Truth**

* * *

She spun around and broke out into a run as the next scene came rushing towards her, her heart pounding in her chest. Why, why was she being shown Scorpius's memories? And so far, none of the three scenes she had seen had anything to do with Albus. Was she missing something entirely?

Her mind returned to the lost little boy and the crying little boy and she felt her heart clench. She had a growing suspicion about what could connect these memories together and the next one proved that she was spot on.

_This time, she knew for sure that the little boy had been Scorpius. The teenager in the memory, who was around fifteen, was standing at a tree by the side of the Great Lake, his platinum hair almost blinding against the dull colours that surrounded him. He was looking out towards the lake with a somewhat distressed expression, his mouth downturned in a brooding frown. She had the immediate urge to reach out to him and hold him, but her hand passed right through him. Her body had returned to its ghostly state._

_There was a rustling behind her and she turned around. Her heart slammed against her ribs as she saw her younger self stride towards Scorpius, an almighty scowl on the girl's face._

_"What do you want, Malfoy?" fifteen-year-old Rose spat, coming to stand a good six feet away from the boy. He took a moment to turn towards young Rose and she immediately recognised the wide-eyed look of innocence on his face._

_"You heard about my grandparents."_

_Fifteen-year-old Rose's expression softened and she nodded slightly. "I did," she replied softly._

_"And?" the blond demanded, stomping up to her and glowering down at her. The redhead took a step back, a fearful expression flitting across her face._

_"What do you mean? I heard that they passed away and I'm sorry that they did," younger Rose said in a choked voice. Fifteen-year-old Scorpius didn't look like he believed her in the least._

_Here it comes, she thought with a pang, her gut clenching._

_"You liar!" screamed young Scorpius._

_"How dare you! Did you blackmail me into coming all the way here just to spite me?" yelled back young Rose._

_"Don't lie to me, Rose! I know you feel sorry for me! I saw the pity in your eyes earlier today! I thought it was odd that you would simply give up your Charms essay without your usual tirade, but now I know! You felt sorry for me and let me have it out of pity, didn't you?"_

_"So what if I did! I thought you'd be glad to not have another thing to deal with—"_

_"Don't fuck with me, you wench! I don't need your pity!"_

_Rose's eyes flashed and her lip trembled as she tilted her chin up and said stonily, "Then I am truly sorry that I gave you any. You're absolutely right. It was foolish of me to think I had the right to empathise with you."_

_She watched as confusion flickered in Scorpius's eyes as the redheaded girl angrily wiped away her tears._

_"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked quietly, making fifteen-year-old Rose laugh bitterly._

_"I'm only your plaything, aren't I? Nothing more than a feeble source of entertainment for the benevolent heir to the Malfoy name. How stupid of me to even think for a moment that you considered me something more. Goodbye, Scorpius, and worry not, your secret is safe with me. I may be a lying wench, but even I have some integrity."_

_And so saying, the redhead marched away, leaving a dumbfounded Scorpius to watch her leave with a pained look on his face. _

She remembered this scene like it was yesterday. The way her heart had fluttered at the prospect of Scorpius Malfoy calling her out on a Saturday evening; the vain hope she had had that he would confess his unbounded love for her, but had been thoroughly heart broken by the end of it. She had thought that his secret smiles in her direction or the way his eyes followed after her as she walked past him was an indication that he actually noticed her_—_that she wasn't just another pansy girl among all those who desperately wanted his attention.

She watched with an aching heart as fifteen-year-old Scorpius screamed in frustration and kicked at the tree, swearing at himself, probably for being the stupidest git on the planet. She remembered his words from a few days before – "Because the one who was doing the chasing has always been me, and the one who was being chased has always been you."

_The scene shifted again and this time, it was one she didn't recognise. She stared at the marble hallway and wondered mildly if it was Malfoy Manor. Turning at the sharp sound of footsteps, she watched as a younger Albus strode towards her, his expression strained and an aura of doom hanging over him. He turned sharply into the door just beside her and she poked her head in to see what was going on._

_The room was quite small as compared to the descriptions she remembered of the Manor, and was devoid of any and all finery. There was only a single bed pushed against the wall opposite the door and two chairs on either side of it. There was a lone table at the foot of the bed and a single window let in the pale, waning rays of twilight. _

_She moved to stand in the centre of the doorway as Albus leaned down beside the bed and spoke in hushed whispers with the man laying in it. A thin, bony hand poked out of the covers and Albus hesitated very briefly before taking it. They continued talking for a time, Albus now perched on the edge of the chair._

_"He's been like that for almost five months now."_

_She jumped at the deep voice next to her and stared wide-eyed at a younger Scorpius. He was dressed in a black suit with silver trimming and his short hair was slicked back as it always used to be. She thought for a moment that he was addressing her, but then he looked past her and she turned to see that he was addressing the woman on the other side of her. The woman looked so much like the one who had spoken to six-year-old Scorpius in the very first memory__—__except, not really. This woman was much older and much thinner and paler. She was almost completely black and white, her skin being so pale._

_"Yes," she agreed with a deep sigh, bowing her head sorrowfully._

_"Mother! Why are you so swift in giving up hope? Albus said he would help, didn't he?"_

_"But is that what you want, my son?"_

_Astoria Malfoy looked at her son with pained eyes and she stepped back so she didn't have to swivel her head back and forth in order to watch them speak._

_"What I want is of no concern! Who am I to claim the right to let a man die?"_

_"You are the dying man's son."_

_"Mother, please…" Scorpius begged, his voice thick with unshed tears. Astoria's face pinched together into a grimace. _

_"You truly have a kind heart, if you can say such a thing after all that he has put you through," the older woman said quietly, reaching out to touch her son's arm._

_"He was ill!" Scorpius hissed, clenching his fists. "He wasn't in control of his actions!"_

_"Maybe so, but not always. He was in control of himself when he chose to drink himself into oblivion and take his anger and helplessness out on you."_

_Astoria had such a painfully hopeless expression on her face that it seemed to break her son's heart._

_"Mother please," he begged again, his voice breaking. "It was only the one time. After that, he didn't—"_

_"He beat me as well."_

_The silent confession seemed to throw Scorpius off completely. He staggered backwards and stared at his mother wide-eyed, tears streaming down his cheeks. "What," he choked, gripping the doorframe for balance._

_Astoria bowed her head, her own tears falling down her face. _

_"Why didn't you tell me!"_

_"You were only a child. What would you have done?"_

_"I would have at least tried! Mother, I would have tried!"_

_"You had enough burdens of your own. I could not add my own to them."_

_"So you hid the fact that he was abusing you from me?!"_

_"It was only when he was uncontrollable," Astoria said hurriedly, trying to placate her raging son. "Not always."_

_"Do not lie to me!"_

_"I am not—"_

_"He beat me almost every day when I came home! Don't tell me the days he left me alone, he came after you?!"_

_Astoria winced at the force of her son's voice. "He was ill," she whispered her son's words back to him brokenly._

_Scorpius seemed to tremble from repressed anger as he raked his hands through his hair and tried to calm himself down. He blinked the tears out of his eyes and dashed them off his cheeks. He reached forwards and did the same for his mother, reaching around her and pulling her against him._

_"We really are one hopelessly pathetic family, aren't we?" he asked with a bitter laugh._

_"But we are still family."_

_They stood in each other's arms for a long moment – until there was a rasping call from within the room. Astoria snapped her head up and froze, as though she was expecting a beating at any moment._

_"What does he want?" Scorpius hissed and Astoria clutched his arm._

_Albus walked out to them and pulled them aside, giving them both acid looks. "Very smart, shouting about a dying man at his own door."_

_Both mother and son flushed and looked away, shame-faced. Albus made an irritated sound and finally turned to Astoria. "Let me save him."_

_The older woman almost began shaking her head but caught herself. "Please," she begged in a trembling voice. "Please tell me, can you really save him? Can you bring back my Draco to me? My husband? The father of my son? Or can you only salvage his life so he lives on like the ghost of his former self that he is, while the illness eats away at him?"_

_"It is very common for patients suffering from a psychological illness to make a full recovery," Albus told the woman gently._

_"But?" Scorpius asked. Albus's gaze flickered to Scorpius._

_"But I cannot guarantee that he will."_

_Astoria let out a pitiful wail and Scorpius closed his eyes and swallowed, shaking his head slowly. "Enough," he said in a strangled voice. "He's suffered enough. We've all suffered enough. Put an end to this suffering. Allow this family to retain its last bit of sanity."_

_"Do you really mean that?" Albus growled, his dull emerald eyes flashing with anger. "Are you really asking me to kill off your father when there may be a chance that he may recover?"_

_"What chance, Albus! Are you asking me and mother to bear the burden of his abuse until he passes away peacefully, leaving us broken and traumatised?"_

_"He's ill! You know he hates that he hurt you! You know how much guilt he feels that he can't even remember raising his hand against either of you! You know that's the reason he tried to kill himself!"_

_"Why didn't he succeed?" Scorpius asked quietly, his face an emotionless mask. "There was nobody to stop him from dying. Who saved him?" he turned to his mother. "Mother, was it you?"_

_She stepped back and sobbed, shaking her head. Scorpius rounded on her, grabbing her shoulder and shaking her. "What did he do to you?" he roared, the force of his emotions making the entire memory tremor. "Tell me mother, what did he do?"_

_"He—He—" Astoria stammered, shaking her head and sobbing uncontrollably. Scorpius's face twisted into a snarl, his silver eyes so dark, they were almost black._

_"Did he try to kill you? Answer me, mother!"_

_"Yes," Astoria wailed and both Scorpius and Albus closed their eyes, pained expressions on their faces. _

_"What happened?" Albus asked quietly while Scorpius cradled the older woman against him._

_"He tried to hit me and I resisted. He got angry and began throwing things around. It was too much for his body to take. He—he collapsed on the floor and I rushed to him—I thought he was dying. But he suddenly looked at me and lunged for me, trying to choke me and—and he thought—he thought—"_

_"He thought you were the Dark Lord," Scorpius finished quietly as Astoria broke down and sobbed into his chest. The two males exchanged looks and Albus shook his head._

_"I can't do it," he choked. "I'm sorry, but I cannot kill the man who saved my life."_

_"That man no longer exists, Albus!" Scorpius yelled, gripping the other's shoulder._

_"He may still be there. We may still be able to reach him. Just give me some time—"_

_"It's been five years, Al! How much worse does he have to get until you let him go in peace?"_

_Astoria began to wail again and Albus fixed Scorpius with a determined look. "Then let me take custody of him. Name me his Healer and give me the power to decide whether he can go or not. I've been working on some new potions and drugs that haven't yet been tested—"_

_"Are you asking me to give you permission to use my dying father as a test subject?" Scorpius snarled._

_"What other choice do we have?! I'll put him under and keep him alive using the new technology we've developed by studying the Muggles' intensive care techniques, and when there is not even the faintest chance that I can save him, I'll—I'll let him go," Albus finished shakily._

_"Can he get better?" Astoria asked, the hope painfully obvious in her voice. Albus shook his head._

_"Like I said, I cannot give any guarantee—"_

_"Then let me help as well. I am very skilled at potion making and have brewed many new potions of my own. Let me aid you in your endevour to save my husband."_

_Albus nodded and they turned to look at Scorpius, waiting for his permission. He sighed and pressed his palm against his temple. "Alright, fine. Fine, put him under, do whatever you see fit, but you cannot test anything on him without knowing what effects the potions will have."_

_"Of course," Albus agreed instantly. "I'll test them on myself, if I have to."_

_Scorpius finally nodded and sighed. Astoria caressed her son's face in her hands and he gave her a wry smile. "I can't go on that expedition now, can I?"_

_"Don't be ridiculous!" Astoria admonished. "Of course you must go! You will be absolutely useless even if you remain here."_

_Scorpius cringed at the bluntness of her words but gave the older woman a small smile, nonetheless. "I may not be back for a long time, though."_

_"Then that gives us enough time to heal your father and when you return, it will be to the same man you have known your entire life."_

_Scorpius smiled sadly at the hope in his mother's voice. "Yes, I would like that."_

She was so shocked and stunned by everything that she had witnessed that it startled her when the scene melted in a puff of grey, swirling and churning into the next memory. She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling like she was losing herself. She had not known. She had never known. All the pain that he had to bear on his own. And all she had done was scream at him and insult him and never trust him.

And what was this about Draco Malfoy saving Albus's life? Her cousin had never mentioned any such thing. What was this illness that the older Malfoy suffered from? It was obviously psychological in nature, probably trauma from the War, but why had he only worsened almost a decade and a half after the War ended? Was there something else that triggered his illness? Did it have something to do with Albus?

Her mind felt like it was on fire. Every second she spent in Scorpius's memories, the more confused she became. There were more unanswered questions than answers, and after the latest memory, she didn't even know what she was going to see next. She scanned the fluctuating memory and waited with bated breath as it finally settled around her.

_What will you show me now, Scorpius?_

She stared around her, wondering when the memory would begin.

_There was a sharp crack beside her and she jumped, her head snapping to the side. She was staring at a young Scorpius, younger than in the previous memory. Where were they? Why was it so pitch black?_

_"Are you sure he came this way, Hagrid? Mental or not, I don't think Al has the guts to enter the Forbidden Forest on his own after dusk."_

_'The Forbidden Forest?! Al had run into it? When it was so dark? What in Merlin's name was he thinking!'_

_"I agree, bu' he was'n in his senses, now was he? Eh, boy?"_

_"No," Scorpius admitted, seeming to shrink under Hagrid's piercing gaze. "I still highly doubt he ran in here. Are you sure you saw him?"_

_"Migh've, migh' not've, can' say anythin' fer certain in my old age," Hagrid said with a belly-rumbling laugh. Scorpius looked at him incredulously._

_"You're yanking my chain, aren't you?" he asked in a scandalised voice, staring around him in the dull light of the lantern he held. "Al never came in here!"_

_"Can' say he did," Hagrid agreed with a thoughtful nod._

_"Hagrid!"_

_"Decided to teach you lads a lesson, I did," he chortled as Scorpius yelped when something slithered down the tree beside him._

_"Hagrid, this isn't funny! We've to look for Al! Get me out of her, now!"_

_"Is t'at a way to talk to yer Professor, Scorpius?" Hagrid asked, his eyes flashing._

_"Please," Scorpius begged, looking thoroughly panicked as he eyed his surroundings fearfully. "I'm sorry we snuck mead into the dorms, but the Sixth years threatened to tell the Professors if we didn't!"_

_"Ready to give me their names, then?"_

_"Sure, of course," Scorpius answered readily, bobbing his head and stepping back. "Can we please go now?"_

_Hagrid chortled happily and thumped the blond on his back, making him wince from the force of it._

_'I remember this time,' she thought suddenly. 'This was in our fourth year when a group of Sixth years were almost expelled for breaking a whole bunch of school rules. There were several rumours about them doing outrageous things while they were drunk, and that two Fourth years had got dragged into it, but I didn't know Al was one of them!'_

_She was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts as a bloodcurdling yell rang through the dead quiet of the night. Scorpius and Hagrid immediately spun around towards where they had come from._

_"I told you we had to look for him!" Scorpius shouted, running out of the forest and towards the source of the sound, Hagrid hobbling close behind._

_'Was that Al just now?' she thought as she ran after the two, panic rising from within her. They broke the line of trees and immediately blinked in the bright light of the moon. Even though it was well past midnight, the brightness was blinding as compared to the profound darkness of the Forbidden Forest,_

_"Al!" Scorpius yelled, taking off in a run towards a crumpled figure lying on the grass. Feeling as though her heart would explode in her physical body, she ran after him, her fear only increasing ten-fold._

_There was a shout slightly away from where Albus was lying in a crumpled heap, his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he foamed in the mouth._

_"Hagrid!" Scorpius shouted, as the half-giant took off after the two students, who were probably the perpetrators, as they turned tail and ran. "Al," Scorpius whimpered, pulling the other boy's head onto his lap. "Mate, can you hear me? Albus!"_

_Feeling like she was going to be crushed from the weight of both her own emotions as well as Scorpius's emotions that lingered in the memory, she collapsed onto her knees, her voiceless sobs wracking her body as she heard someone running towards them. Scorpius snapped his head up, his eyes going round._

_"Help! He's dying! Al is dying, please help! Father!"_

* * *

**A/n: This isn't a cliffie, I had to break the chapter into two because it got too long. Anyway, too much information is too bad, so I think it's better off this way.**

**I would love to know what you thought so far, and I know it's all confusing, but Rose is just as confused as you lot, so yeah xD**

**Lots of love~**


	21. Decisions

**Chapter 21**

**Decisions**

* * *

_She watched with shock as Draco Malfoy knelt beside Albus, placed his fingers to the boy's throat, pressed his lips together and then motioned for Scorpius to help him lay the boy flat on the grass. He placed his palms one on top of the other on Albus's chest and pressed. He did it again and again till Albus choked and convulsed. Draco then turned him onto his side and began thumping his back while stroking his throat. After a moment of shuddering and gagging, Albus vomited onto the grass and she noted with some shock that it contained blood as well as a reasonably large lump of food._

_Albus began heaving and Draco rubbed his back, reaching into his robes and bringing out a small vial. He pressed it to Albus's lips and coaxed the other to drink it, murmuring consoling words to the boy. Once Albus had drunk a substantial amount, he trembled and Draco motioned for Scorpius to move out of the way. As soon as the blond did, Albus began to violently throw up for a good five minutes, till it looked like all the contents of his stomach were spilled onto the grass._

_Draco Scoured up the vomit and hefted Albus into his arms, nodding to Scorpius to follow. As they walked briskly back to the castle, Scorpius asked nervously, "Father, why are you in Hogwarts?"_

"_Headmistress McGonagall had something she wanted to show me," came the crisp reply and Scorpius opened his mouth, making to ask something else, but just then, McGonagall and the matron came running towards them – although the Headmistress's run was more of an extremely fast walk – their robes billowing around them._

"_My goodness, is he alive?"_

"_Yes, he is."_

"_Oh, thank heavens. Would it be too much to ask for you to carry him to the Hospital Wing, Mr Malfoy?"_

"_I fully intend on doing just that."_

"_Very good, then. Miss Palms shall assist you."_

_McGonagall sent them on their way and then caught Scorpius before he could follow. "You, Mister Malfoy, are coming with me." _

She was so involved with everything that was going on, that she shouted soundlessly when the scene dissolved around her in splotches of dull colours and she staggered back, the overwhelming emotions ripping her sanity slowly to shreds. She watched as the scene fluctuated and settled again, and this time it was in a familiar setting.

_Albus – now much older – was pacing up and down his lab as he muttered to himself. His hair was even more unruly than she remembered and from how long and shaggy it was, she made a guess that this memory was at least three or four years old._

"_No matter how long you persist with your muttering and pacing, the results will not arrive any faster."_

_She should have gotten used to it by now, but nonetheless, she started violently when she heard the cool voice beside her. She turned to stare wide eyed at Astoria Malfoy leaning against the wall with a blank expression on her face, her chin tilted up and her lips pursed in disapproval. Suddenly realising something, she looked away from the older woman and scanned the room._

'_Where is Scorpius? Am I no longer in his memories?'_

_She stared back at Astoria and surmised that somehow she must be in the Malfoy woman's memory. It may have accidentally happened because of how deep into her mind Astoria had ventured while performing the Legilimency on her. _

"_I think I should increase the dosage. Maybe if it was a little stronger—"_

"_Enough, Albus."_

_Albus looked startled at the sharpness in the woman's voice and she walked up to him slowly, her elegant movements and her regal demeanor never wavering – although her eyes seemed to glisten suspiciously._

"_Why? Are you giving up! After all this time! We're almost there. Just a bit more—"_

"_If we keep going in this manner, your body will shut down before we see even the slightest results in him," Astoria said gently, holding Albus by the shoulders to stop his nervous fidgeting._

"_But, it's been three years! I think he's improved! Just a little more and—"_

"_My darling child, you have done enough," Astoria whispered, placing her hands on either side of the other's face. "You have struggled day and night tirelessly for the past three years and we can now say for sure that he will never awaken. It is time to let go, my love. He would want that."_

"_No! No, we can't give up hope yet! We can't!" Albus shouted, staggering back. His expression looked delirious, like he was barely holding on to sanity by a thread. "Look!" he said, pushing up the sleeve of his lab coat and pointing at the raw skin that was an ugly shade of purple. "See, now I can properly study his illness and we can—"_

"_You foolish boy, what have you done!" Astoria shrieked, rushing to him and grabbing his arm. She looked up at him with pleading eyes that swam with raw emotions. "What did you do?"_

"_I implanted his cells into me. I wanted to test the extent of cellular damage. We already drew to the conclusion that his illness is not purely psychological in nature, but rather it was one that caused psychoses through the degradation of the nerve cells. We know this illness has been eating away at his brain, which is the reason for his extreme mood swings, and loss of memory! If I can somehow reverse it using the potions I brewed and my own healthy cells—"_

_A sharp slap rang through the large room as Albus's head snapped to the side, a pinkish welt blossoming on his cheek. Astoria's face was flushed and she looked like she was only just keeping her tears at bay. She clutched her wrist as though she had been the one hurt by the slap. Albus slowly turned back to look at her, an insane gleam in his eyes. His face split into a maniacal laugh, his shoulders twitching and shivering. _

"_You fool," Astoria whispered, the tears finally spilling down her cheeks as she reached over and stilled Albus, giving him a grave look. "When did you implant his cells into you? Was it earlier today?"_

"_Today? Are you mad? I did it when we first started doubting that it may be an illness of the body and not of the mind!"_

_Astoria's eyes went round with fear. "No!" she gasped in horror, shaking Albus. "Tell me you didn't!"_

"_But I did! It's been two whole years now and look how far I've come! You would've never known if I hadn't told you! The drugs are working, I tell you! He's going to get better!"_

_Albus staggered out of Astoria's grip and stumbled toward the door. "Contact Scorpius, I say! Tell him his father is alive and well! Tell him he's saved! Tell him—"_

"_Stupefy."_

_She watched as her cousin crumpled to the floor, the mental expression on his face frozen in place. Astoria trudged up to him while clutching her arm and fell to his side, reaching out with a whimper and stroking his cheek._

"_You foolish, foolish boy," she sobbed as she pulled him onto her lap, cradling him and weeping quietly. "I shall not let you throw your life away for a man who is as good as dead, even if he was once my husband."_

_She opened her mouth as though to say something, but suddenly snapped her head towards the back of the room, where a shimmering golden rectangle the size of a door appeared on the wall with a faint hiss. That portion of the wall disappeared and a very short wizard bustled in, his pudgy hands clutching a clipboard to his chest so tightly that his knuckles had gone white. Astoria straightened and raised her eyebrows in a questioning look. The stubby man dropped his own head and shook it once. Astoria exhaled shakily and nodded, fresh tears falling from her eyes._

"_So all has failed, it would seem."_

"_What would you like me to do, Lady Astoria? Shall I increase the dosage?"_

_Astoria closed her eyes briefly and swallowed, shaking her head. "No," she replied, opening her eyes and nodding at the pudgy wizard. "I already made a decision and I shall abide to it."_

"_Are you sure, madam? Maybe the permission from the Healer in charge—"_

"_Mister Binks," Astoria cut in smoothly and the short man went very still and very red. "Although I respect Healer Albus's abilities, my own decision is final. I already have the necessary parchments in order. It's time to end all our suffering and let him go."_

_The chubby wizard nodded vigorously and then turning around, stuck his head in through the enchanted door and probably spoke to someone on the other side of it. He stood there for a long time, and it was unnerving to see just his body, neck onwards and not his head. He finally pulled back with the demeanor of someone who had suffered a great loss and bowed his head._

"_It is done."_

"_Thank you, Mister Binks," Astoria said softly and the man bowed again and walked backwards through the enchanted door. It disappeared as soon as he was on the other side of it and Astoria let out a sob as her entire body began to tremble. She doubled over and cried into her hands, the hopeless sounds barely muffled by them. _

_It seemed like ages passed as she watched Astoria weep at the loss of her husband and the fact that she had been the one to make the decision to let him go. Soon enough, Albus began to stir._

_He groaned and moved his head, blinking in confusion. He looked down at the weeping woman bent over him and his confusion turned to fear as he tried to pull away from her grasp. "What's wrong? I only passed out, is all. I'm fine, look," Albus said softly, probably thinking that the older woman wept because of him._

_But Astoria simply shook her head and turned away from him, refusing to look at him or let him pull her into his arms. He regarded her for a long moment and then his eyes widened as realisation seemed to dawn. He snapped his head towards the back wall and probably sensed that the enchanted door had been recently opened, because he snapped his disbelieving eyes to Astoria and slowly shook his head._

"_Tell me you didn't," he whispered and Astoria broke down with even more force than before. "Tell me you didn't, Astoria. Astoria!"_

_He shook her fiercely but the older woman could only weep. His own face had become ashen as a growl escaped his bared lips. "No!" he screamed. "I will not let you do this! I haven't approved of this! If I go now, I can still make it!"_

_He stumbled to his feet and began making his way to the door, but Astoria's reaction was instantaneous. She pointed her wand to him, but maybe he sensed it the second time around, because he dodged the Stunning spell and fixed large, betrayed eyes on her. "I will never forgive you!" he screamed, "If you do this, I will never forgive you!"_

"_If I don't do this, then I will never forgive myself," she replied quietly, steadying her wand and twisting her wrist in a slow circle. "Forgive me, my love._

"_Temporarius Oblivium."_

The last thing she saw before the scene dissolved, was Albus lunging towards Astoria with a ferocious roar, and his eyes, that shone with betrayal, losing their light as the temporary memory charm took effect. He fell limply to the floor and disappeared in a swirl of colour.

She let out a soundless cry of desperation. She had had enough. She didn't want to know anymore. She didn't _need_ to know anymore. She understood why Albus was ill. She understood why he was dying. She understood the reason behind everything. She understood the truth. And she didn't need any more pain. She couldn't handle anymore pain.

Her spectral body began to merge with the dull colours as they fluctuated around her. She felt herself become one with all the swirling and burning emotions that engulfed her. Her mind became overcome by the memory and even as she felt herself losing herself in the myriad of emotions, Astoria's warning rang clearly through her mind.

"_Do not forget your identity and do not lose yourself within the memory. This is my one and only warning to you."_

And she pulled herself together. She separated her own vibrantly colourful mind from the dull memories surrounding her as she floated through them. She pieced herself back together as one would an intricate puzzle – slowly and diligently. She felt the familiar tug of another presence in her mind and she was pulled out of the memory. It was the exact opposite of when she was falling – now she was being pulled back up as the memories shot past her, the same bubbling laughter of a child filling her ears. But this time, she knew whom it belonged to.

* * *

"—ose! Rose!"

She blinked slowly and squinted at the brightness. Immediately a shadow loomed over her, making it easier for her to see. She sighed as she reached up and caressed Scorpius's face, smiling as he instantly leaned into the touch.

"You frightened me to death," he whispered shakily, pulling her hand to kiss her palm. She hummed in content and motioned for him to help her up. She blinked rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the brightness and got shakily to her feet.

"How long have I been unconscious?" she asked as she swivelled around and looked towards the far wall of the gardens of Herington estate.

"Barely a minute or two, but it was enough to scare me—"

She nodded and tuned the rest of his sentence out, her eyes having found what she was looking for. Taking off in a run, she went straight through the flowerbeds, pushing in between the short, manicured trees and jumping over the hedges. Finding running in high heels far more inconvenient when she was in an actual body, she tugged them off and ran barefoot to the far wall. She heard Scorpius and Renée call after her and knew she was causing a scene, but she couldn't have cared less, just then.

Falling onto her knees beside the crumpled form lying on the grass, she pulled the hood of the cloak back to reveal Astoria Malfoy's beautiful face – which was now twisted in pain and covered in perspiration as she breathed heavily. The toll on her magical power had surely been great, but Rose was grateful to the woman for bringing her back out of the memories alive.

"Thank you," she whispered as she pulled the woman to her feet, the latter barely conscious. She turned to see Scorpius, Lucas, Renée and a few others come to a stop several feet away from them, Scorpius's eyes going wide with astonishment as he gaped at his mother.

"Sorry," Rose said to both Scorpius and Renée and caught the dismissing nod from the brunette as her eyes demanded an explanation to be given later. She smiled gratefully and just as Scorpius took a step forwards, she spun on the spot and Apparated.


	22. Coming Together

**A/n: First of all, I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR AGES! Real life has been killing me and my beta [the beautiful, gorgeous nymphxdora] had exams, so I took so long! I really am sorry, and hopefully you forgive me with with this extra long chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 22**

**Coming Together**

* * *

She stumbled when her feet met firm ground and only barely managed to steady Astoria before the latter went crashing to the floor. Rose led the older woman to the plush sofa in Albus's office-lab and helped her onto it. She watched the other's laboured breathing for a moment before heading around the sofa to the panels in the wall, pushing and pressing against them in order to open them.

It took her a good ten minutes to find what she wanted, but when she did, she exclaimed triumphantly and ran over to Astoria. The older woman's breathing had evened out considerably, but she was still extremely pale and was shivering uncontrollably. Rose cast a Warming spell around her as she tipped her head back and tilted the small vial in her hand, emptying the turquoise liquid into Astoria's mouth.

The result was instantaneous. Astoria's cheeks flushed as colour returned to her skin, her chest rose and fell as her breathing grew deeper, and her eyelids fluttered as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Where..." she breathed, her eyes slowly looking around her as her fingers twitched.

"Albus's office, I Apparated us here. How do you feel?"

Astoria turned ever so slightly to look at Rose and her brows crinkled in confusion for a moment before smoothing out. "Ah, yes," she said breathlessly, slowly easing herself forward.

Rose moved to help her, but she held up a hand and shakily stood to her feet, clutching at air for support. Rose pressed her lips together and stretched her arm out so Astoria could hold onto it if she wanted to. For a second the other woman eyed Rose's extended hand disdainfully and then snapping her head forward, raised her chin, clasped her hands in front of her, pushed her shoulder back, and began to stride regally toward the back wall.

Rose rolled her eyes and followed, wondering what the still wobbling woman was going to do. Astoria pressed her palm against the back wall and Rose gasped as a glowing, rectangular outline the size of a door appeared in the wall. Astoria pressed again and the space within the rectangular outline disappeared to reveal another room. Rose leaned forwards on the balls of her feet to see through to the shimmering room. She belatedly realised that the room wasn't what was shimmering, but rather the barrier that separated the one they were in and the one they were looking into.

"Come," Astoria instructed, as she stepped through the enchanted space and disappeared. She stepped up to Astoria's side and watched as an extraordinarily short – for a wizard – man hobbled up to them, looking flustered and worn out.

"Lady Astoria!" he squeaked, to which Astoria shot him a disapproving glance before her gaze settled on the far corner of the room where a privacy screen had been installed.

"How is he?" she asked softly as they made their way across the room.

"You may return to whatever it was you had been doing, Mister Binks," Astoria cut in, making Mister Binks clamp his mouth shut mid-sentence, go red in the face and nod vigorously, before stepping back and bowing so low, his nose almost touched the floor. Astoria gingerly slid back the curtains and Rose's breath caught at the sight of her cousin.

Albus was lying in a hospital bed, his complexion rivaling the sheets he was tucked into – so much so, that his blood vessels stood out in stark contrast against his translucent skin, like winding wires of different colours embedded in his arms and neck. His face wasn't any better; his cheeks were hollow, there were dark circles around his eyes, his usually thick, wild hair was thinning and sticking flat to his face, his lips were cracked and blue…

Several wires from his wrists and chest led to a weird, beeping, metal box that had a black display on the front. There were two horizontal lines that ran in a particular pattern across the display.

The first one was reasonably stable, with steadily blinking numbers that fluctuated back and forth every few minutes, next to it. The one below one didn't seem to have any particular pattern and was simply a very jagged line, but the numbers displayed next to it were fluctuating constantly.

"What _is _that?" Rose asked, motioning to the box.

"A modified cardiac monitor," Astoria replied blandly, sitting down in the uncomfortable looking chair beside the bed and clasping Albus's bony hand in her own.

"What does it do?" Rose asked, when Astoria didn't seem inclined to continue. The older woman shot her an irritated look.

"It does as it's names," she said dryly. "It records the heart rate and rhythm and shows whether the patient's heart condition is stable or erratic and whether his life is in any danger."

"Both those lines?" Rose asked, curiosity clear in her voice. As a person of science, magical or Muggle, her curiosity took the better of her even in serious situation.

Astoria seemed used to it by then, because she replied, "The second series shows the stability of his magic."

"But," Rose frowned, "it doesn't seem very stable."

"Because it isn't," Astoria said simply, focusing on Albus's face, her eyes softening. "His magic has been erratic ever since he lost consciousness. We've been able to keep it suppressed using different potions, drugs, spells and these modified Muggle contraptions, but it would be extremely dangerous if it continues to remain erratic and doesn't settle down soon."

"Is it life threatening?" Rose asked softly, knowing the answer already.

"Yes," Astoria replied just as softly, her hold on Albus's hand tightening.

"How did this happen?" Rose asked, as her heart thudded in her chest when the cardiac monitor's beeping suddenly increased for a moment before settling to its normal pace. "I know it had something to do with him performing experiments and tests on himself, but if what you showed me was correct, then he shouldn't have performed as many, right? I mean, your late husband passed away quite a time ago."

Astoria didn't answer immediately. Instead, she stared at Albus with a brooding expression that – Rose thought – was full of guilt.

"He did," she finally agreed, confusing Rose slightly because of the delay in her response. "I'm sure you also saw that I performed a Temporary Memory charm on Albus, didn't you?"

"I did, but it couldn't have been all that temporary, could it?"

"No," Astoria admitted, shaking her slightly. "But since it _was _only temporary, Albus was able to fight it without the knowledge of its existence."

"He _fought _it?" Rose asked incredulously, coming to finally stand beside her cousin and gently stroke his hair. It wasn't uncommon for magical folk to unknowingly resist the effects of a temporary memory charm as its effects were much weaker than a traditional memory charm – especially considering that it was mainly a modification of the original. But it was very rare to see a witch or a wizard fight against it to an extent that they almost undo the spell on their minds – which was definitely what Astoria had meant, Rose was sure.

"Yes," the woman replied sadly, as she blinked away tears and swallowed thickly. "I had to perform the spell quite a few times on him over the years, but for some reason, it never seemed to hold as well it should have. And somewhere along the way, his mind must have subconsciously replaced the blocked memory with a pseudo memory. So instead of believing that my late husband was beyond anyone's help even though he was not dead – as I had wanted him to believe – he thought Draco was still alive and that he was still capable of saving him."

Rose's heart fell to her stomach and her throat constricted. If what Astoria had just said was true, then she knew exactly why Albus had still continued to perform tests and experiments on himself. "He completely stopped resisting the spell, and instead, his mind created a false memory as a shield so he would stop fighting the spell. It was created in order to prevent Albus from self-destructing by attacking his own mind, but—"

"But by doing so, it brought on the exact same result that it was trying to avoid," Astoria finished, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "I tried recasting the spell on the false memory, but it wouldn't work—"

"Because the memory was never Albus's own, to begin with. It was never there in the first place, so a memory charm whose main function is to erase or replace original memories, wouldn't work on an artificial one. Especially since it was temporary."

Astoria let out a sob and bowed her head, nodding slowly. "I didn't want to cast a full Memory charm, because I didn't want it to backfire and cause him to lose all of the ones he had."

"You did what you thought was best," Rose said gently, offering the older woman a smile. From what she had witnessed, Astoria seemed to genuinely care for Albus like he was her own son.

That thought suddenly sparked another, and Rose asked, "Does Scorpius know?"

Astoria seemed to freeze at the sound of her son's name and she straightened herself like she had back on the sofa a few moments ago. "My son has nothing to do with—"

"You replaced his memories too, didn't you?" Rose asked quietly, her own disbelief much too overwhelming for her.

When Astoria's eyes flickered with insecurity, Rose felt the ringing in her ears grow louder. "How could you?" she demanded, having to restrain her impulse to reach for her wand.

"Scorpius was furious," Astoria replied flatly, her voice thick with tears, "when he found out what I had done. He didn't want Albus to go about his life working for a goal that no longer existed. When he demanded that I retract the spell, I refused. I couldn't risk having Albus relapse to that manic phase where he was near suicidal. And if he knew I let my husband die and cast a Memory charm on him in order to make him forget…" Astoria shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself.

"So you cast a Memory charm on _Scorpius_?" Rose asked, dumbfounded.

"Only because he insisted that I do so."

Rose stared. "He—what?"

"He insisted—no, demanded—that I replace his memory of what I had done with one that would let him live in peaceful ignorance—"

"Wait, wait," Rose interrupted, pinching the bridge of her nose and holding up her hand. "From what I've learnt, your late husband passed away some four years ago, yes?"

Astoria nodded.

"Then, you replaced Albus's memories at the same time, yes?"

She nodded again.

"But, Scorpius wasn't even _here _four years ago! He was in Peru!"

"He came back, of course," Astoria said with a frown, as though she couldn't comprehend what exactly was confusing Rose. "I sent him a letter informing him of his father's passing, and he immediately took a Portkey back home. That was when he found out and demanded that I replace any memory of the event."

Rose shook her head slowly. "So he doesn't even know that he came back?"

Astoria inclined her head, fixing Rose with a curious look. "Of course not."

Rose sighed and squatted down, leaning her forehead against the cool metal of the bed's railing. Too much had happened in barely an hour, and her head was pounding from the amount of information her brain was forced to receive and sift through in such a short time. She clenched her eyes shut and willed her headache to the back of her mind – a talent she'd come to possess with the amount of times she was faced by constant migraines on a daily basis.

"So… those scars on Scorpius's back…" Rose said in a strangled voice, slowly pulling herself to her feet and collapsing in the chair Astoria had Conjured for her.

The older woman continued to watch Albus's chest rise and fall as though she hadn't heard Rose. Just as the latter began to repeat her question, Astoria answered solemnly, "That was from much before. When my late husband was still alive."

"So that memory about him abusing the two of you…"

"That was there as well?" Astoria questioned with a sigh and a shake of her head. "But of course it would be. It was directly related to Draco, so of course it would have been there," she continued as though she was only thinking out loud and not actually answering Rose's question.

When Rose continued to watch her expectantly, Astoria gave in and gave her a proper reply, "Draco was very ill. Even after all these years, we are yet to discover the latent cause for his illness. But nevertheless, it greatly affected his state of mind and he would behave violently in his confusion. He believed that Scorpius and I were the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters, and when he attacked us, we never resisted, because we believed in passive aggression being the only way to placate him.

"We believed that if we didn't put up a fight, Draco would come to realise that we weren't those who he feared us to be. And it did work, except after many hours of suffering brought upon us. It was worse still, when Draco realised. He would fall back with a horrified expression on his face and then begin to wail pitifully, trying to hurt himself for all the pain he caused us.

"He tried to take his own life several times, when Scorpius was still in school and I was away from him for brief intervals. I had taken away his wand, of course, that was the first thing I did. So he tried any other method, and when I returned, I would only just be in time to barely save his life. Then once he recovered enough, it would begin all over again.

"He was much quieter when Scorpius wasn't home. When his illness had progressed enough, to only allow him to recognise me when he was not delirious. So when our—my son would return… Draco would be so frightened. He could only see his greatest, darkest fears instead of Scorpius, and it tore the boy from the inside out. Scorpius tried everything possible to get his father to believe it was him, his son, instead of the beings Draco feared – to such an extent that he took Draco's abuse on an almost daily basis.

"But that only made everything worse. Draco wouldn't hurt me as much as he hurt Scorpius because he was able to recognise me to some extent even in his delusional state, because I was constantly by his side. But Scorpius, who only came home during the holidays, frightened him enough to send him to the edge of insanity. And when he momentarily regained his mind…"

Astoria trailed off, shaking her head and sobbing quietly into her hands. Rose swallowed thickly. She couldn't even _begin_ to try and fathom what this family had been through. How selflessly devoted the mother and son were to the father, and how his own actions pained the father enough to try and take away his own life…

It was beyond sad. She didn't pity them, because that would be more than disrespectful, but it hurt her that there was nothing she could do. Once she could talk without choking, she asked, "Scorpius doesn't remember any of it, does he?"

Astoria shook her head slowly. It finally made sense to Rose why Scorpius's memories had been so grey and dreary. They were memories that his mind – and the Memory charm – had shunned because they somehow reminded the blond of what his father had done and everything that happened after.

"What—what memory did you use to replace it with?"

Astoria reached forward to gently stroke Albus's forehead before answering. "I didn't completely replace it, as I did with Albus. I simply erased it and let him replace it on his own, like Albus had."

"And what was that which he replaced it with?"

Astoria moved her shoulder slightly in what Rose assumed was a shrug. "That, I don't know. But whatever it was, it kept him from contacting me since returning to his Expedition and not coming home once he—"

She broke off abruptly when her voice began wavering too much for her to continue. Rose nodded slowly and reached her hand out across Albus's chest. Astoria only hesitated briefly before clasping it gently, making Rose almost jump from the iciness of it.

They sat like that for a long time, holding onto each other and Albus, and watching his slow, even breaths. Finally, Rose shifted and squeezed Astoria's hand in hers in order to draw the older woman from her thoughts.

"Will you—will you undo the temporary memory charm on Scorpius's mind?"

Astoria's eyes widened at the question and her grip grew so tight that it was painful. She began to shake hear head, but Rose leaned forward with a pleading look. "Please. Besides, how am I going to explain what happened today without him having his memories? And I'm sure he'll be glad to know the truth about what happened. He's been suffering all on his own for so long, I think it's only fair that you let him truly come home."

She smiled as Astoria's eyes glimmered with the hope of being able to hold her son again, and the latter nodded enthusiastically. "Yes," she said breathlessly. "Yes, I think it only fair to give him back what is rightfully his."

Rose's smile widened as Astoria squeezed her hand gratefully, her eyes shining with the same emotion. "Thank you," the older woman breathed, "for being by his side when no one else was."

Rose's breath stilled as Astoria's words echoed inside her head. It all made sense. Scorpius's actions all those years ago all made sense. He had desperately wanted to be accepted by someone who didn't want him for whatever ludicrous version of him they saw in their heads. He always found a way to gain her attention even if he was going about it the wrong way. She remembered the memories of his that contained her and her heart thudded.

Maybe Astoria was wrong… Maybe the memories had little to do with being related to Draco and more to do with them being memories of things that hurt Scorpius or that he regretted or caused him to feel strong negative emotions. She let out a shaky breath as tears prickled her eyes, Scorpius's words to her from the other day replaying in her mind once again.

"_Because the one who was doing the chasing has always been me, and the one who was being chased has always been you."_

* * *

The moment Scorpius Apparated into Albus's office, Rose hooked an arm around his elbow and steered him to the sofa. Scorpius followed almost without conflict – almost, because the moment he laid eyes on Astoria, who had just entered the room through the enchanted door, he froze on the spot, his eyes going wide and his breath stilling.

Astoria reacted in pretty much the same way, but then she caught herself and elegantly made her way towards them, stopping a good few feet away. Scorpius continued to stare at his mother for so long that Rose was beginning to lose her patience.

"Scorpius, sit down," she instructed, urging him towards the sofa. When he remained unmoving, staring at his mother, Rose shoved him and he landed unceremoniously on it.

"What—what's going on?" he asked brokenly, his voice trembling with so much force that his words almost blended together incomprehensively.

"We'll tell you in a moment," Rose assured him, coming to stand in front of him so he was forced to tear his eyes away from his mother and fix them on her. She extended her hand and he immediately took it, making her shiver at its coldness. It reminded her of several minutes ago, when she had been holding onto Astoria's hand.

Scorpius opened his mouth, making to say something, but Rose had done what she had meant to do – distract him for long enough so Astoria could remove the Temporary Memory charm placed on his mind.

"_Revertere Oblivium."_

Rose watched as the light in Scorpius's eyes dimmed out and he slumped backwards, his head lolling back and his hand slipping from hers. She inhaled shakily, her hand still extended, and Astoria came up to clasp it in hers.

"I'm scared," she whispered, sounding terrified, and Rose squeezed her hand.

"You only did as you were asked to. He would never hold it against you."

She first nodded and then shook her head, as though she wanted to believe what Rose had said but couldn't. The two women watched with bated breath as Scorpius's expression turned slack and his breathing turned shallow. After a moment, his head jerked to the side and his finger twitched.

"It has begun," Astoria said softly, and the two took a step backward as Scorpius began to thrash and groan.

"Should we bind him?" Rose asked nervously, as he slipped from the sofa in his writhing and flailing and lay twitching on the cold marble floor.

"No, we mustn't hinder the reversal of the spell in any way, physical or otherwise. We must let the spell erode away from around his memories and allow his mind to recognise and accept the forgotten memories as his own."

"How much time will the whole process take?" Rose asked, to which Astoria shook her head slightly.

"The spell has been in place for a long time. It will take an approximate of the same amount for him to regain his memories. But even I can't tell how he'll react once he regains them."

They stepped further back as Scorpius's groans increased in intensity. She knew barely a minute or two had gone by, but she couldn't watch him like that. It pained her. She shifted slightly and Astoria's grip on her hand tightened to the extent of being painful.

"You must not intervene," she said sternly and Rose nodded.

"I won't."

They stood watching Scorpius flounder around on the floor for what seemed like hours, but was exactly forty minutes. After the half hour mark had passed, the blond's struggling reduced to mild twitching and jerking. Rose realised with a jolt that tears were streaming out of his eyes, mostly because he hadn't blinked much since the reversal charm had been placed on him. It scared her to see the eerily empty look in those otherwise dancing silver orbs, and she shivered as his head snapped towards them, making it seem like he was staring at them with that haunted expression.

By the end of forty minutes, colour was returning to his cheeks and his breathing was steadily growing heavier and more ragged. He finally blinked rapidly and sat up slowly, leaning against the sofa and just staring ahead of him as he sifted through his new—or old, rather—memories. He finally looked towards them, but his eyes paused on Rose for only a moment before fixing fully on Astoria. He eased himself up and onto the sofa and slumped backwards, his eyes never leaving his mother. He finally smiled crookedly and raised an arm in a welcoming way—to which Astoria gasped softly and all but ran into her son's half-embrace, completely forgetting her usual regality as she all but draped herself across him and sobbed into his chest.

Rose looked away as Scorpius pulled Astoria close and began softly murmuring to her as he stroked her hair and back. The redhead quietly made her way to the back of the room and with a final glance over her shoulder to confirm that nothing could go wrong if she made herself scarce, she pressed her palm against the wall, wondering if the enchanted door would open.

She almost thought it wouldn't, when the rectangular glow appeared and the space of wall disappeared—to reveal a haggard looking Mister Binks. He started violently and almost toppled backwards, causing her to jump as well. She raised a finger to her lips, motioned over her shoulder, and stepped through to the other room. The little man didn't seem very happy at all that he had been disregarded, but he didn't make a fuss about it. He simply shot Rose a glare and wobbled toward Albus's private stall of sorts.

She stepped in behind him and watched as he watched the beeping cardiac monitor for a time, before jotting down something on the clipboard in his hands. He then checked Albus's pulse and then began muttering profusely.

"Is something the matter?" Rose finally asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. The tiny man jumped and spluttered, turning to her with an expression that said he clearly hadn't known she was there. She kept her face neutral and caught herself before she rolled her eyes.

"His magical pulse rate isn't falling back to normal at all," Mister Binks finally groused when Rose didn't back down. "Even though we're able to stabilise it and keep it from going berserk, it will become dangerous if it doesn't drop."

"What about all those machines and whatnot you've got him attached to?" she asked, coming around to stand on Albus's other side.

"These modified equipment only serve the afore mentioned purpose. They do not – in any way, whatsoever – help reduce his magical pulse rate."

"Is there some way of getting it to drop without having to wait for it to naturally do so?"

When the man didn't answer immediately, Rose turned to look at him curiously, only to see the bewildered expression on his face. Had she said something wrong?

He blustered again and hobbled out of the privacy curtains, motioning for her to follow. He walked up to one of the many long, metal tables that had been arranged in the center of the large room and stepped on the small stool placed beside it so he could see over it. He gestured to the paddle-like objects lying atop the table, in a tray.

"And this is," Rose prompted, when Mister Binks continued to beam and didn't offer her an explanation.

"A Muggle instrument they call a _defibrillator,"_ he answered proudly, as though he was the one to have invented it.

"And what do these… defibrillators… do?" she asked, trying to bite back a laugh. She knew what they did, but she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The man looked at her sideways as though gauging whether she was truly stupid or simply poking fun at him. Rose eased her expression into one of innocence, earning a scoff from the small man.

"This is a device that is used to restore the heart to normal sinus rhythm through electrical energy when the heart is incapable of doing so on its own. It effectively resuscitates the human heart even after it has shut down, essentially bringing the person back from the dead."

Rose stared at the metal paddles that had a smooth, flat base and easy-to-grip handles protruding from the back. Her eyes followed the twisted wire that connected the defibrillator to a small machine that had a display similar to the cardiac monitor, but was much smaller in size and much more portable. Muggle inventions were always so fascinating. Especially considering how they had no magic, the contraptions Muggles invented came very close to being magical.

"And you intend on using this to restart his heart?"

Mister Binks nodded enthusiastically and Rose hummed, picking up one of the paddles and examining it, deep in thought. She finally looked up at the little man with a big smile that he easily reciprocated.

"You intend on stopping Albus's heart briefly and then restarting it using this… defibrillator, and hope that the shock would be enough to force his then weakened magical pulse rate back to normal."

Mister Binks all but bounced on the spot, looking like a child. "Yes, yes, that is, in fact, exactly what I plan on doing!"

Rose nodded thoughtfully. "It's definitely dangerous and risky, but most definitely worth a try. Have you spoken to Astoria about this?"

"Spoken to me about what, exactly?"

Rose started so violently, she almost dropped the object in her hand and Mister Binks fell off his stool with an almighty squeak. Astoria raised an unimpressed eyebrow at their antics. Rose flushed and the little man did the same, both wilting under Astoria's stern gaze. Rose was about to explain, but Mister Binks beat her to it, albeit while stuttering and stammering so much that he was barely comprehendible.

Once he finished, Astoria had a thoughtful frown on her face. Even Scorpius—who had been standing quietly behind his mother—looked intrigued. "It's worth a try," he mused and Astoria finally nodded.

"Yes. If Miss Weasley herself has agreed that this risk is worth taking, then who am I to refuse."

Mister Binks and Rose shared a glance before packing up the defibrillator and taking it inside to Albus.

"Who will be the one going through the defibrillation process? Mister Binks?" Astoria asked, as she checked another monitor on the other side of the bed, whose wires were connected to Albus's chest, wrists and ankles.

"Yes, Lady Astoria, if you deem me trustworthy enough to do so."

"Only you possess the in-depth knowledge required for carrying out such a risky procedure, and the idea was your own, was it not?"

The little man flushed with pride and bowed deeply, making the three others smile.

"Is this monitor here relaying electrical information from his heart?" Scorpius asked incredulously, bending over his mother's shoulders to stare at the other machine.

"Yes, in fact," Astoria replied, nodding with satisfaction at the digits displayed. "It's called an Electrocardiogram—or ECG, for short."

"How fascinating," came Scorpius's reply, as he examined the various wires and whatnot without touching them. "Muggle technology never fails to impress me at every turn."

Astoria and Rose shared identical knowing looks and hid their smiles as Scorpius began badgering Mister Binks with questions about the in depth workings and intricacies of the contraption.

"Scorpius, darling, this isn't exactly the time for idle talk," Astoria admonished lightly, although a small smile graced her elegant features.

Scorpius bowed slightly and stood back in order to allow Mister Binks to go about setting up the equipment. Once he was done, he Summoned his stool so he had a greater advantage in height, pushed away Albus's white robes, and held the paddles just over Albus's heart, the paddle in his left hand higher up than the one in his right, so they were aligned diagonally right over where Albus's heart was.

"Please erect shields around yourselves and the equipment," Mister Binks instructed, nodding to Astoria to take control of the monitor attached to the paddles. "On my word, Lady Astoria."

Rose and Scorpius instantly raised shields in front of themselves—Scorpius's _Protego _shielding Mister Binks, himself and Astoria, while Rose's shielded herself, the cardiac monitor and the other contraptions connected to Albus.

"Miss Weasley, if you would inject the serum into Healer Albus's arm," Mister Binks instructed and Rose nodded, pressing the needle into her cousin's radial artery and pushing down the plunger so that the clear liquid passed into Albus's blood.

"As his heart begins to fail, his magic will detect that his body is being forced to shut down and begin attacking what it thinks is the cause for it, so brace yourselves."

Even as the small man spoke, the cardiac monitor began beeping as the numbers turned red and began to drop rapidly. The air around Albus began to shimmer and warp and the closer his heart came to stopping, the more powerful his magic seemed to become. As soon as the line that showed his heart rate ran flat, the air around Albus began shifting and contorting to form long ropes of pure energy that twisted and whipped against everything in its vicinity.

Mister Binks was shouting over the howling magic and Astoria pressed a button on the small machine, followed by the man pressing the paddles against Albus's chest. The Potter jolted and arched, his torso rising from the bed and falling back with a flop. All eyes turned to the cardiac monitor, but the line was still running flat.

"Again!"

Astoria increased the voltage, Mister Binks brought the paddles down, and Albus's torso lurched.

But the line ran flat.

"Again! Increase electrical output!"

Again the same.

Again the line an flat.

Astoria increased the voltage.

Albus jolted.

The line ran flat.

Again Astoria increased the voltage.

Again Albus jolted.

Again the line ran flat.

"We're losing him!" Rose screamed, as Albus's rampant magic slammed against her shield, throwing her to the ground and slashing half the wires that connected her cousin to the machines that were keeping him alive. "Shite!"

She rolled to the side, her arm stretched out and gripping her wand tight enough to snap it. She focused her magic into the spell and increased the strength of the shield, expanding it slightly to cover more ground. Mister Binks was bringing down the paddles again.

"If we go any higher, it will risk permanent damage to his heart!" Astoria was shouting, but Mister Binks insisted she increase the output voltage, which she did, and he brought down the paddles again.

_Come on, Al! Come on!_

There was the sound of whiplashes and Astoria, Scorpius and Mister Binks were thrown off their feet, ripping down the curtains as they went hurtling backward. Rose's heart was pounding in her chest and her blood was pounding in her ears, so furiously that she almost missed the sudden lack of beeping. She spun around and stared wide-eyed at the cardiac monitor—which was now displaying normal sinus rhythm. She cried out in relief and clung to Albus, kissing the back of his hand and stroking his hair.

The other three staggered back and Astoria was at Albus's other side, sniffling and laughing at the same time, as she mimicked Rose and kissed the man's hand, placing it against her cheek. Scorpius came to stand beside Rose and she immediately leaned into him, barely remembering that his memories had returned and she didn't know how he saw her now. But his arm circled her waist and held her against him and that was all the answer she would need, if the question ever arose in her mind.

They stood watching Albus's furiously red and swollen chest rise and fall as Mister Binks ran around cleaning up the mess.

"He shall awake in a few hours," Astoria said and stood back, letting her hand linger before nodding to Rose and Scorpius and making her way to the enchanted door, calling to Mister Binks to follow her. Rose turned back to her cousin and sniffed, laughing shakily as she squeezed his hand.

"Thank goodness," she whispered and Scorpius tightened his arms around her waist and laid his forehead on her shoulder.

"Thank you," he said in a muffled whisper and she almost missed it because of how quiet his voice was. She laughed lightly and reaching up, threaded her fingers through his hair, stroking it gently.

"Always."

* * *

**A/n: This chapter was originally split into two but I decided to combine it so as to not drag on the story. In case you're wondering, Lithium is almost at it's end, and I hope to be able to end it nicely in three more chapters, but let's see.**

**Thank you for all your love and for being so so patient and I truly am sorry that I kept you waiting for so long! A special thanks to NightmarePrince and Frogster for demanding that I update quickly because that forced me to get my shit together and post this.**

**Lots and lots of love~**

**Arty.**


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